


S.H.I.E.L.D. High

by iColorWithCrayons



Series: Avenging Through the Years [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Clintasha - Freeform, Friendship, High School, Multi, Pepperony - Freeform, Steggy - Freeform, They all get themselves into a huge mess, and a bit of romance, but it all works out, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-02 22:49:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 116,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2828840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iColorWithCrayons/pseuds/iColorWithCrayons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avengers High School AU. The world's mightiest heroes are nothing more than high school students trying to get their diploma. Unfortunately, they get much more than they bargained for along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

S.H.I.E.L.D. High School was nothing like the other high schools in the country. It was the most sought-after education in New York, possibly in the country. The dean, Nick Fury, was notorious for rejecting the most qualified students and accepting the most bizarre applicants. Parents across the country had protested the dean's decisions to no avail. S.H.I.E.L.D. High School was more difficult to get into than ivy league colleges.

That was what Nick Fury allowed people to think, anyway. The truth was: S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't difficult to get into at all, so long as the applicants had the required skill set. The high school was for exceptionally gifted students. Students that were able to bend forces of nature to their will, students that were able to spar with a man twice their size without breaking a sweat; students that would graduate and ultimately save the world from descending into chaos.

The school placed these special students on certain career paths based off of their individual skillsets. Their schedules reflected these specific career paths. Instead of worrying about taking ridiculous extracurriculars to fill their schedules, only the most crucial courses were supplied. In order to keep their funding, all students were required to complete the basic courses: math, science, english, and history, but these courses often lasted a semester at the longest. The courses were also offered over the summer for particularly motivated students. However, the emphasis was placed on relevant subjects, such as sparring, leadership and technology courses.

In addition to offering the mandatory courses that other high schools required, S.H.I.E.L.D. also pushed their students towards extracurriculars. The S.H.I.E.L.D. football team was internationally ranked, the robotics club created blueprints that were often purchased by NASA, and the members of the student government were asked to attend urgent UN meetings. It was not difficult to see why parents were so desperate to enroll their students in the school.

"Move it, Barton! If you slow down now, your mile time will be bad enough to justify kicking you off the team!" Steve Rogers hollered, folding his arms across his chest as he watched the rest of the football team run around the football field.

Steve was the captain of the team. It hadn't been very difficult to secure the position; Steve had always been exceptionally athletic and Mr. Fury had always pushed him towards leadership positions. He had been drawn to the military coursework almost immediately after being enrolled in the school. By the end of his first semester at S.H.I.E.L.D., it had been determined that he would continue on the military path. Mr. Fury had confidence that this particular field of work would take Steve very far.

The desultory teammate in question, Clint Barton, offered Steve his middle finger as a response.

Both Steve and Clint knew that Steve would never dream of kicking him off of the football team. While Clint did not take the game quite as seriously as some of his teammates did, he was a damn good football player.

Like Steve, Clint had been blessed with athletic prowess. He was not nearly as strong as Steve - no one was, really - but he was brilliant at determining pressure points and weaknesses in opponents, easily taking down any players that crossed his path.

Clint had opted for a slightly different academic route than Steve. He was training to become an international spy. His summery demeanor was a genius aspect of this career path, as the most secretive of strangers felt compelled to open up to the friendly boy. Despite his best efforts, even Steve couldn't help liking Clint just a little bit more than the rest of the diligent members of the team.

"That's strike two. If you're not careful, I'll have to show you what leadership style they're teaching in my leadership history course. We're learning about Stalin right now. Want to take that risk?" Steve commented, biting back a smirk as Clint picked up the pace slightly.

"Hey, Rogers, I have fresh meat for you to torment whenever you're done with Barton." A smooth voice sounded from behind the captain.

"Nat, hey. Uh, is this him?" Steve questioned, turning around to face Natasha Romanov and the tall, muscular boy she had brought along with her.

Natasha was one of the most influential students at S.H.I.E.L.D. High, there was no way around it. Mr. Fury favorited her to an almost improper degree, while the rest of the student body cowered in her imposing presence.

Like Clint, she was studying to become an international spy. She lacked the same bright demeanor that the boy possessed. In its place was a terrifyingly blank face as well as nerves of steel. Steve had personally watched her spar with some of the bulkiest, strongest boys in the school; she always won. She had even kicked Clint around the ring a number of times.

Despite the widespread fear of the redhead, Steve had taken an immediate liking to the girl. She had saved him from walking into the girls' locker room on the first day of their freshman year. Ever since, they had looked out for each other throughout the chaos that was high school. Now, in their senior year, they no longer needed each other's protection, but instead, sought out each other's company as a way of surviving the tedious activities that are often forced in high school.

Somewhere throughout the ever-lasting years of high school, Steve had developed some sort of feelings for Natasha. She was comely, there was no denying that. All of the boys at S.H.I.E.L.D. had thought about asking her on a date once or twice throughout their high school careers. Steve was the only one who had thought about her beyond that. Despite this, he knew better than to expect anything but friendship from his redheaded friend. She was a loner. She disliked depending on anyone else.

"Yep," Natasha answered, sparing the imposing blond figure another glance, "this is Thor. He just moved here from Asgard. According to Fury, it's an entirely different realm. Go easy on him. He might be strong, but when it comes to football, he probably knows less about it than I do."

Steve looked the boy over quickly. He did look strong. His muscles were bulging out of the T-shirt he was wearing. There was undoubtedly a spot on the defensive line for someone with Thor's stature.

"All right, great. Thor, you can start running with the other guys. Tell them to hurry it up if they start to move too slow." Steve allowed, jerking his head in the direction of the rest of the team, indicating that Thor should join the assemblage of running boys.

Thor stared back at the captain incredulously for a moment before murmuring something under his breath and jogging over to the rest of the team. After watching Thor's departure, Steve turned to face Natasha with an amused stare.

"Have you sparred with him, yet? If he's from another realm, he might be able to take you down." He chuckled, glancing at Thor - who had already taken lead of the pack - before returning his focused stare to Natasha.

The spy in-training rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Fury says that he and his brother got sent here after they threw a temper tantrum over ascending the throne in Asgard. He might be strong, but he's not smart about his strength. I could have him on the ground in ten minutes, tops." She replied, a smile playing on her lips.

Steve returned the smile easily. "Are you sure that you don't want to join the football team? I doubt Mr. Fury would have any strong objections. You're better than most of the guys out there. You could always take Barton's spot." He offered teasingly.

Natasha laughed, shaking her head. Her eyes focused on Steve's for a moment before she turned to observe the gaggle of boys running. Some of them had slowed down considerably in the hopes that Steve was distracted. Clint was jogging at an abnormally slow pace.

"Move your ass, Barton! I'm going to tell Fury to kick you out of the program for being so lazy on the field!" She called.

Natasha grinned as Clint scowled in her direction, shaking his head before picking up the pace. It was easy for everyone to see the strange relationship between Clint and Natasha. Everyone was used to Clint's flirting, that was commonplace. The only thing unusual thing was that Natasha flirted back.

Steve had observed this, of course, but could not bring himself to ask either Natasha or Clint about it. It was their business, he reminded himself. Besides that, he could not think of a single positive thing to say to either of them if they confirmed that they were interested in dating one another. Prior to his mother's death, which had promptly followed his his father's death, she had reminded him that if he didn't have anything nice to say, he might as well keep his mouth shut.

"Yeah, yeah, that's big talk coming from you, Tasha! Why don't you get back to the gym? I think I can see your muscles turning to fat as we speak!" Clint shouted in a breathless voice, waggling his eyebrows at the glowering redhead.

Natasha rolled her eyes as she returned her focus to Steve.

"As much as I hate to admit it it, he's probably right. I was supposed to get back to the gym right after dropping Thor and his brother off at the clubs Fury chose for them. Do you want to go to dinner after you're done practice? I think the dining hall is serving apple pie tonight. I know how you feel about apple pie." She remarked, smiling as she started walking backwards in the direction of the school.

Steve nodded, unable to suppress a grin.

"Yeah, I'll see you there."

Natasha smiled once more before returning to the school, quietly laughing at the distant sounds of Steve yelling at the lazy football players.

* * *

"How could you not understand the concept of the speed of light? It's not difficult!" Tony Stark demanded in exasperation, gesturing towards the whiteboard containing scribbles and pictures that did not appear to make a whole lot of sense.

Tony was the genius of S.H.I.E.L.D. high, there was no denying it. His classmates resented him in classes, as he would always have an answer ready before the professors had finished the question. He usually added a snarky comment along with his answer, provoking the professor to yell and assign even more homework. As much as the student body loathed him, everyone had a begrudging sense of respect for the brilliant young man. He was the captain of the robotics team, as well as the co-chair of the science club. Mr. Fury had placed him in the most rigorous science classes the school had to offer, often times importing foreign scientists to further challenge the boy. Evidently, Mr. Fury had high hopes for Tony's scientific career.

"Lighten up, Stark. She's not even studying science. She's here for public relations. I think she just followed Jane in." Bruce Banner sighed, rubbing his temples in an effort to remain calm despite Tony's persistent nagging.

Like Tony, Bruce was immersed in the school's science program. Mr. Fury had originally objected to this decision, as Bruce contained a far more powerful weapon than his intellect, but Bruce had insisted that he would either study science at S.H.I.E.L.D. high, or he would transfer elsewhere.

The more powerful weapon in Bruce's possession were his severe anger issues. These issues went far beyond anything that had ever been seen on the face of the Earth before. Instead of yelling and maybe picking a fight or two, Bruce would turn into a hulking green monster. The monster was uncontrollable, despite Bruce's best efforts. His rage was barely any easier to control. Mr. Fury saw this 'power' as a possibility. Bruce saw it as a condemnation.

So, instead of embracing the idea of becoming a military weapon or a last-resort in the next world war, Bruce decided that he would study gamma radiation for the rest of his life. He reasoned that if he studied it long enough, he might be able to reverse whatever it was that had gone wrong inside of him.

Tony glowered at the girl in question: Darcy Lewis.

Bruce was right; Darcy was studying public relations. If she was being honest with herself, she would have to say that she hardly belonged at S.H.I.E.L.D. high. She suspected that everyone at the school, including Mr. Fury, felt similarly. She had applied along with her best friend, Jane Foster, in the hopes that she would be one of those inexplicable acceptance letters. After her interview, Mr. Fury had determined that while Darcy did not have any special qualities, but she was charismatic enough to be somewhat useful, should the council ever decide to make a political movement.

"Why would you follow someone into a club based on something you don't know anything about? Why don't you run off and play with the student government association or something?" Tony muttered, sparing Darcy one last disgusted look before refocusing on Bruce, who had been making a statement about a documentary on light he had seen the night before.

Darcy raised an eyebrow at Tony.

"Why don't you jump off of a cliff?" She countered.

Tony turned to smirk at Darcy. "I think that Fury would send a helicopter to catch me before I hit the ground. I'm the most valuable asset he's got at this school."

Darcy rolled her eyes.

"I don't have time for your bullshit right now, Tony. I have to show one of the new kids around. I'm surprised you didn't want to get your hands on him, Jane. He's from a totally different realm. He probably knows a lot about the stars or whatever it is that you study." She said, sliding off of the lab bench she was sitting on and snatching her backpack off of the ground.

"Really? You think so?" Jane Foster inquired eagerly.

Like Tony and Bruce, Jane was studying science. Her focus was primarily astrophysics. In addition to being a member of the science club, she was also forced to subject herself to the robotics club, where she had to endure an even more insufferable version of Tony. Unlike Darcy, Jane did not argue with Tony very much. She didn't argue with anyone, for that matter. She was too busy to worry about social conflicts or creating drama. Instead, she focused her eager, wide-eyed attitude on science.

She and Darcy were inseparable. They had been for years. They often crashed each others' club meetings, they always sat together at every meal in the dining hall, and they had opted to become roommates despite both of the guidance counselors' objections.

"I guess. I don't really know. It's worth a try, isn't it? C'mon, what do you have to lose? A room full of guys talking about things moving a fraction of a second faster than each other?" Darcy replied, standing in the doorway, staring at her best friend hopefully.

Darcy  _really_  didn't want to be alone with the new guy. Mr. Fury had asked her to introduce him to all of the student council members, as he would likely join the student government himself. Apparently his name was Loki. The name was strange and off putting enough as it was.

Jane chewed her thumb, looking between Tony and Bruce, the co-chairmen of the science club before turning and smiling at Darcy.

"I'll see you guys in class. Text me if you see any more documentaries, Bruce. I really wish I could have seen the one last night." Jane said, sparing the two boys a small smile before grabbing her bag and skipping over to Darcy's side.

Tony rolled his eyes as he turned his focus back to the whiteboard.

"Women." He muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

* * *

"Hey, you're the new guy, aren't you?" Darcy questioned, approaching a tall, lean figure standing against the lockers in a deserted hallway.

The boy stared down at Jane and Darcy with an unimpressed glare. His green eyes searched their faces, as though he were reading them like an open book. When he didn't find anything of interest, he nodded his head, glancing around the empty hallway.

"I am Loki of Asgard. Am I to assume that you are Darcy Lewis?" He questioned, his eyes boring into Jane's.

"Oh, no, that's me. Hi, I'm Darcy. Mr. Fury is making me introduce you to everyone in the student government. Don't mind Jane, she's just studying science. I guess you're going to study public relations? That's what I'm doing. Apparently I'm going to be a political leader. Who knew?" Darcy rambled, immediately beginning to walk down the hallway, not bothering to check if Loki was following her or not.

The tall boy sauntered behind her, observing every scene that presented itself with a great deal of curiosity. He didn't seem to miss a thing. Neither Darcy nor Jane took a particular interest in Loki's behavior. They were too well-adjusted to being surrounded by geniuses and mental cases. Loki was hardly the strangest creature they had encountered throughout their years at S.H.I.E.L.D. High.

"What will you rule?" Loki asked evenly, glancing down at Darcy inquisitively.

"Oh, no, I'm not going to be like a queen or anything. Just someone who pretends that they're doing the right thing for the majority of the population while actually serving their own private agenda. I'm pretty excited about it." She replied, nodding her head and smiling satirically.

Loki's eyebrows furrowed. "Is that not the proper definition of a ruler?"

Darcy laughed, shaking her head. "You're funny, new guy. You know what? I'm going to do you a favor. Technically Mr. Fury said to introduce you to the entire student government, but I'm going to skip that mess. You don't want to meet twenty different people in one afternoon, do you?"

Loki arched an eyebrow at her. "How dull are these people?"

"Every time they open their mouth to say something, I die a little bit inside." Darcy replied.

"Ah," Loki drawled, nodding, "then I would appreciate avoiding them at all costs."

Darcy smiled. "That's what I thought. I'll just introduce you to Pepper. She's really the only one that you need to know. She's the president of the student body. You'll love her. Everybody does."

"She is the primary ruler of the school?" Loki clarified, his eyes searching the hallway for any signs of the subject of their conversation.

Darcy shrugged. "For all intents and purposes, I guess so. She's probably sitting in her office planning the next decade or so. Here we are. Jane, did you want to come with us? I don't know if this is going to turn into a meeting or not, but if it does, it's going to be pretty boring."

"I don't mind. I sat through the budgeting meeting last week. I don't think it could get worse than that." The smaller girl replied, sparing Loki a small smile before following Darcy into Pepper Potts' office.

Pepper, like Darcy, knew that she had gotten into S.H.I.E.L.D. High on technicalities. She was organized and she was a few notches above average in the IQ department. That was about it. She wasn't even as charismatic as Darcy; she was much too self-contained to blurt out her opinion in a room full of strangers. The only reason that she had gotten into the school was Tony Stark.

Tony was royalty at the school. Mr. Fury scolded and reprimanded him half-heartedly from time to time, but for the most part, the faculty at S.H.I.E.L.D. bent to Tony's will. The intelligence and charisma that the boy possessed were far too valuable to lose to a competing school. So, when Tony had insisted that Pepper would be a beneficial addition to the school, Mr. Fury had reluctantly sent out the necessary paperwork.

The dean, as well as the majority of the student body, had been curious about Tony's intentions when he demanded Pepper's acceptance. They quickly received their explanation when they saw Pepper following Tony around the school, essentially serving as the boy's secretary. She would schedule his extracurricular activities, she would ensure that Tony did not miss important meetings with established members of the scientific community, and perhaps most importantly, she came up with elaborate schemes to keep Tony's handful of girlfriends from finding out about one another.

Everyone had suspicions that Pepper had developed a sort of crush on Tony. It was the only explanation for her ability to continuously deal with his sempiternal narcissism. Pepper objected to these accusations, insisting to her closest friends that she was desperately in love with Steve Rogers as opposed to her tall, dark, and snarky sort-of employer. The large majority of the female student body followed the muscular football player around with hopeful eyes. It was a widely accepted crush for girls to have. Ironically, Tony was the only one who believed that Pepper was really seeking out a relationship with the star athlete.

"Hey Pepper," Darcy greeted her friend warmly as the group entered her office, "Mr. Fury told me to introduce you to one of the new kids. This is Loki. He's going to be studying public relations." She gestured to the lanky figure by her side.

Pepper looked up from the papers scattered about her desk, allowing Loki a friendly, slightly flustered, smile.

"Loki? That's a different name. Hi, I'm Pepper Potts. I'm the student body president for the time being. Have you gotten your class schedule, yet?" She inquired politely, standing up and outstretching a small hand in Loki's direction.

He stared at it pointedly before shaking it. "I have not. The dean has scheduled aptitude testing tomorrow morning for my brother and I. He will undoubtedly enroll in courses strictly based off of fighting and other physical exertions."

"Oh, I haven't met your brother yet. Do you know if he's thinking about joining the football team? He should; we always win the National Championships. I'm sure Steve would be more than happy to have another member on the team. Steve is the captain of the football team, you know." Pepper chirped, casting a glance in Darcy and Jane's direction to gauge whether or not they had noticed her subtle mention of Steve.

Darcy rolled her eyes, but didn't say a word.

Loki studied Pepper for a moment, then shook his head.

"No," he answered slowly, "I can not say that I have any idea as to my brother's intentions. I am sure they are absurdly noble. As much as I dislike shifting the subject matter from my glorious brother, I feel obliged to inquire as to the clubs that I might be welcomed into."

Pepper raised an eyebrow at the boy before her eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude! Um, well, we're actually having elections for the vice president of the student body soon. Our last vice president was, um, just a little too friendly with one of their teachers. Anyway, it would be a great way to meet people while you're campaigning. Even if you don't win the elections, you could always be a senator. I'm sure you would be a great addition to the team." She explained pleasantly, digging through her desk in order to find Loki the required paperwork.

The boy accepted the stack of papers with an unimpressed gaze.

"Great, thanks Pepper. Um, Loki, I should probably get you back to Mr. Fury, now. He wanted to talk to you and your brother about the parameters of the test tomorrow. Pepper, try not to stay here until the janitor's threaten to lock you in the school. Again. Tony's schedule really isn't that important." Darcy commented, sparing her friend a knowing look before leading Loki and Jane out of the small office.

"Who is Tony?" Loki questioned as they walked down the hallway, his green eyes finally displaying a small measure of curiosity.

Jane and Darcy exchanged eye rolls.

"Tony practically runs the school. He's a total dick, but none of the teachers are allowed to punish him. Mr. Fury thinks that he's going to throw a temper tantrum and transfer if they do. If you have any classes with him, you'll hear him talk about it." Darcy explained.

" _Problem, Foster? Take it up with Fury_ ," Jane imitated Tony's low, patronizing tone, " _he'll tell you to come back with an apology. You might be smart, but I'm the biggest asset S.H.I.E.L.D.'s got_."

Both girls giggled, shaking their heads.

"More like the biggest ass, if you ask me." Darcy added, casting a grin in Loki's direction.

The lanky boy watched both of the girls with an intent stare. He didn't even crack a smile.

"What makes him so valuable?" He asked, his sharp green eyes flicking from Darcy to Jane and back repeatedly, silently demanding that his question be answered immediately.

Darcy glanced at Jane for an answer; she knew that Tony was smart, and she had heard from teachers that he was supposedly charismatic, but she couldn't explain to anyone just what made Tony so smart. He built robots. He answered all of the questions in every class, when he bothered to show up. That was the extent of her knowledge.

Jane sighed. "He's a genius. Not just your run-of-the-mill, create-a-few-formulas genius, either. He's the real thing. He's already made a bunch of advances in calculus, whether all of his ideas are credited to him on paper or not, he understands thermonuclear astrophysics as well as the most prominent experts in the field, he's probably on the brink of discovering a new element, and on top of all of that, he's surprisingly good at sweet-talking people. When he wants something out of them, that is. You should see how many girlfriends he has. It's unbelievable."

Loki nodded as they approached Mr. Fury's office.

"It sounds as though he could singlehandedly rule your realm." The boy mused, speaking more to himself than the girls standing on either side of him.

Darcy glanced at him curiously, a question forming in her mind. The question was immediately erased as they reached the door to Mr. Fury's office. Next to the door, Steve Rogers was speaking to a tall, muscular boy with long blond hair.

"Hot damn." Darcy breathed, raising her eyebrows as she stared at the boy she didn't recognize.

"Who is that?" Jane whispered, her pupils dilating excessively.

Loki observed the awe-struck girls before rolling his eyes.

"Thor. I see you have met a human with a similar stature. How predictable." The lanky boy remarked, sauntering over to his brother's side, ignoring Darcy and Jane, who were still staring at his muscular brother.

"Oh, hey, you must be Thor's brother. Loki, was it?" Steve cast an uncertain gaze at Thor, who nodded. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Steve Rogers. Thor says that you're really good at creating battle strategies. We don't exactly stab the other team or anything, but you're more than welcome to help me out with a few plays if you're interested."

Loki inspected Steve lazily, as though he had never seen anything quite so boring before.

"Brother, it would be a most enjoyable activity. You could designate the strategy, which I would perform in order to win. You must meet the rest of the team. They are very welcoming." Thor agreed, placing a heavy hand on Loki's thin shoulder.

The smaller boy's eyes narrowed.

"I will consider it." He allowed.

"Great. I'll catch up with you tomorrow at lunch. You'll probably be done your tests by then. Later, guys." Steve said, nodding towards Jane and Darcy briefly before grinning at the pair of brothers and taking his leave.

In the absence of the excitable Steve Rogers, Thor cast a curious glance in Jane and Darcy's direction before staring down at Loki, waiting for an introduction. Loki immediately recognized his brother's gaze and rolled his eyes once more.

"Very well, brother." He sighed, as though introducing his brother to his new acquaintances was a sign of defeat, "this is Darcy Lewis, a particularly unimpressive girl who speaks of studying public relations in the hopes of becoming some sort of ruler. Conversely, this is Jane Foster, who appears to be much more interested in the sciences; something you yourself hold little regard for."

A deep chuckle rippled from Thor's throat as he clapped Loki on the back a little too roughly.

"Ah, that is just Loki's playful nature! He often makes jests that could be confused with insults. You must pay particular attention to him in order to understand. Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster, it is an honor to meet you both." He boomed, bowing his head slightly before grinning at Loki.

The smaller boy shook his head. "I assure you, brother, you are the very last person in existence to fully understand anything."

Darcy bit back a laugh, Jane stared at Loki with wide eyes, as though she expected Thor to be hurt by his brother's biting comment, but Thor simply laughed harder.

The loud volume of Thor's laughter immediately drew the attention of everyone even remotely in the area. Mr. Fury's office door swung open, producing the imposing figure, who still managed to glare at every single student with the aid of only one functioning eye.

"Boys." He acknowledged gruffly. "Come with me. Miss Lewis, Miss Foster; I believe you girls both have places that you should be."

Both of the girls mustered polite smiles.

"Yes, Mr. Fury." They chimed, quickly excusing themselves to join the masses in the dining hall.

As Loki followed Mr. Fury into his office, already discussing the outline of the test, Thor couldn't resist watching the two girls walk away, falling into a comfortable conversation as they did so.

There had been something pleasant about the way Jane Foster looked at him.

Perhaps he would enjoy S.H.I.E.L.D. High more than he had originally thought possible.

* * *

"Wow, Rogers. Did you leave any pie for the rest of the school?" Natasha teased as she slid into the seat next to Steve in their usual table.

The football player smirked as best he could with his mouth full.

After forcefully swallowing the food that had been crowded his mouth, he chuckled.

"Wilson ate all of my food again. I've got to eat enough at dinner to make sure I don't starve tonight." He explained, stabbing at his overcooked chicken with his fork, his crystal eyes twinkling in amusement as he watched Natasha do the same.

The aforementioned roommate joined Steve and Natasha just seconds later, his tray piled just as high as Steve's.

"So  _that's_  where all of the pie went. Should've known that you would beat the rest of the team here on apple pie day, Steve." He sighed, shaking his head as he slid into a seat across from his grinning roommate.

"Wouldn't have happened if you didn't eat all of the food in our fridge, Sam." Steve countered easily, protecting the insane amount of pie on his tray from his roommate's wandering fork.

"You can't blame him for eating all of the food," Natasha objected, smirking at Sam, "he needs to bulk up a little bit. Barton was tossing him around like he weighed next to nothing in Tech Fighting today. It was pretty embarrassing."

Sam pretended to scowl as Steve laughed.

"Funny, Romanov. I'm going to remember that when we work together next week."

The redhead grinned. "I hope you do."

"Hope he does what? Drop out of Tech Fighting? Yeah, I sort of do, too." Clint commented as he approached the table, affording his friends a teasing grin before sitting on the other side of Natasha.

"I don't know if you should be trash-talking Sam, buddy. He did have a better run time than you at practice today." Steve reminded Clint with a chuckle.

Clint waved off Steve's comment.

"This is between me and Wilson. Why don't you worry about finishing your dinner, Rogers?" The shorter boy responded, eying the ridiculous amount of food on Steve's tray with an amused grin.

"Don't forget that I could kick you off the team for a number of things. I doubt Mr. Fury would say anything if I did." Steve muttered, a good-natured smile playing across his face as he returned his attention to his food.

"Hey Captain, if you're not too busy hoovering your food, you might want to look behind you. Pepper Potts has been staring you down since she got here." Sam commented after a few minutes of silence.

Steve arched an eyebrow at his grinning roommate.

"Pepper? You mean Stark's girlfriend? Why would she be looking at me?" He asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before casting a curious glance over his broad shoulder.

Sure enough, the girl in question blushed and immediately looked away, pretending to pay attention to Tony's ramblings.

"You know that Tony isn't actually dating her. He might be dating the rest of the girls in this school, but not Potts. She just follows him around because he got her into this school. I heard she has a major thing for you. Why don't you go talk to her? Take her to a movie tonight; I think some of the guys are going anyway. Maybe you could actually get some action, for once. It might make you less of a dick during practice." Clint suggested, waggling his eyebrows.

Steve shook his head. "I'm glad you respect my leadership. Anyway, I can't take anyone to the movies tonight. I'm hanging out with Bucky."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Tell me that he isn't coming here."

"No," Steve chuckled, knowing that Natasha disliked the way Bucky was constantly flirting with her, "I'm going over to his place."

"Be careful, bud. We wouldn't want our precious Captain to be taken advantage of by his tall, dark, handsome friend." Clint teased, chuckling as Steve attempted to reach around Natasha to land a punch on his shoulder.

"Are you ever going to quit it with those jokes? I don't have a girlfriend because I don't want one. That has nothing to do with Bucky. Who, by the way, is dating a number of girls." Steve responded irritably.

"Sounds like jealousy to me."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Can it, Barton. I think I'm going to take off early. Nat, do you think you'll be okay with these two?"

Natasha's green eyes flicked from the boys sitting at the table to Steve, who was beginning to stand up.

"Actually, I think I'm done eating, too. Mind if I take the bus with you? I've been meaning to pick up a few things from town, anyway." She replied, setting down her utensils and springing out of her seat.

"Not at all. Gentlemen." Steve nodded his goodbye to Clint and Sam before walking with Natasha towards the exit, trying to contain the grin that was threatening to overtake his entire face.

* * *

"What were you staring at Rogers for? Don't tell me that you still think he's something special. C'mon, Potts, he's an idiot! I tried to ask him a question about the mechanics of creating a wormhole and he asked me if they were anything like  _black holes_. What could you possibly see in him?" Tony demanded, staring at his assistant critically as she stared down at her plate, having been caught staring by Steve twice in one dinner.

"Oh, I don't know; a great body, great hair, those eyes, that voice, the way he looks in football pants...take your pick, Stark." Darcy interjected, locking eyes with the genius.

Tony snorted. "So everything about him aside from his personality and lack of intelligence?"

"Steve has a wonderful personality!" Jane objected immediately. "He says hi to everyone he knows, I don't think he's ever gotten in trouble before, and he always volunteers at the retirement home on weekends!"

"Oh,  _please_ ," Tony laughed, his voice hitching in amusement, "he's a glorified golden retriever! You girls would be better off with literally anybody else. Besides, I hear Rogers hasn't had a girlfriend since kindergarden. I doubt he knows the first thing about women."

"Oh, right, and you know everything about women." Darcy muttered, rolling her eyes.

"I think more than a few ladies would say that I do." Tony responded with a smirk.

"You're disgusting." Pepper informed him.

Tony shrugged in complete insouciance. "At least I'm not Steve Rogers."

The murmurous table was effectively silenced by two new additions to the already crowded dining hall. The tall blond boy and the lanky green-eyed boy both looked around curiously, as though they had never seen a similar setting in their lives.

"Who're the new guys?" Tony inquired, watching the boys with a heightened sense of curiosity.

"The Odinsons. They just transferred here from a different realm, according to Fury. The smaller one, Loki, is super intense. Even Pepper couldn't chat him up. Thor, though...well, Thor is just a complete and total hottie." Darcy answered, watching the boys with a great deal of interest.

"They're the ones Jane left the meeting to talk to, right? Learn anything interesting in the astrology department?" The genius demanded, his eyes never leaving the boys as they shuffled through the dinner line.

Jane shook her head. "I, um, I didn't really get the chance to really talk about it with them."

"Huh. Maybe I should invite them to eat with us, then. Find out what their deal is." Tony speculated, finally tearing his eyes away from the boys in order to observe the reactions of his friends.

Bruce Banner immediately shook his head. "Come on, Stark. These guys just had a meeting with Mr. Fury. They're probably overwhelmed as it is. The last thing they need is to receive an interrogation when they're just trying to eat their dinner."

"I'm with Bruce on this one, Tony. Thor, the taller guy, was at football practice today. He could kick your ass without breaking a sweat." James "Rhodey" Rhodes added.

Rhodey was one of Tony's best friends; he and Bruce were competing for the title. When the genius tired of debating different scientific properties with his soft-spoken roommate, he would relax and play video games with his less scientifically inclined friend.

Tony shushed his friends and waved off their objections immediately.

"I wouldn't be interrogating them, I would be making conversation. I know that socialization is difficult for you, big guy, but I doubt these guys would mind it." He stated, returning his focused, calculating gaze to the boys, who were nearing the end of the line.

"I think we should invite them to sit with us, too. They probably don't have any friends yet. It would be nice to give them a place to sit on their first night." Jane remarked, careful to avoid staring at Thor as she spoke.

Darcy nodded in agreement.

"I would like to talk to Loki more about student government. I feel like he didn't really get a sense of community when he was in my office earlier." Pepper admitted guiltily.

Tony beamed. "Then it's settled. The new guys will sit with us tonight. Jane, why don't you go invite them now? It looks like they're searching for a place to sit."

Jane's eyes narrowed at the commanding voice Tony had used, but her eagerness to speak to the handsome new guy surpassed her irritation. She all but leaped out of her seat and briskly approached the two boys with a wide smile.

The rest of the table watched as Thor returned the smile, while Loki simply stared at her apathetically. Jane laughed as she said something to the boys, turning to gesture back to the table before continuing the conversation. As Thor and Loki's eyes roamed to the table, everyone, aside from the perpetually pompous Tony, waved to the pair, hoping to appear inviting.

Loki's eyes immediately locked with Tony's. While Thor accepted Jane's invitation, the two boys stared at each other curiously. The stare was only broken when Thor placed a heavy hand on the smaller boy's shoulder and practically dragged him towards the table.

"Hey there," Tony greeted the boys amiably, continuing to watch Loki with cautious eyes, "you're the Odinsons, right? I've heard you might know a thing or two about astronomy, maybe even astrophysics. We'll get to that, though. I'm…"

"Tony Stark. I have heard a great deal about you, Mr. Stark. I believe we have much to discuss." Loki interrupted, a devilish grin crossing his face as he extended a hand in Tony's direction.

 


	2. Chapter 2

"So, what're you in town for?" Steve questioned conversationally, turning around to make eye contact with Natasha as they walked through the small town that served as the oasis to all S.H.I.E.L.D. students.

The football player was only slightly surprised when he realized that Natasha was no longer behind him. She had a knack for sneaking off without drawing any attention to herself.

"Right, spy-in-training," he muttered to himself with an amused grin, "probably off blackmailing someone for free food."

At the thought of food, Steve reflexively glanced in the direction of the local grocery store. Sam had eaten all of the food in their dorm room. The boys would likely starve if Steve didn't drop by the grocery store while in town.

With a sigh of resignation, the football player shuffled towards the small store, ignoring the copious texts that he was receiving from Bucky. His friend would undoubtedly understand being late for poker night.

He loaded up his grocery cart with piles of the healthiest food the store could offer. Junk food held little appeal for Steve. Beyond that, as the captain of the football team, he considered it a responsibility of his to make sure that Sam ate properly, even when the rest of the team didn't. Carrots instead of chips, yogurt instead of ice cream, and apples instead of cookies. Exactly the way it should be.

Steve glanced down at his phone distractedly as he entered the checkout line. Bucky had texted him ten times. Apparently he had seen Natasha lurking around town and assumed that she had murdered Steve when she had the chance. The corners of the football player's mouth twitched into an amused grin.

"At least someone around here eats healthy." He heard a pleasant British accent remark from the other side of the checkout counter. His eyes immediately shot up to view the owner of the dulcet voice.

It was a girl. He blinked, mentally chiding himself for his momentarily unintelligent thought process.  _Obviously_  it was a girl, but she was more than that. She was a fetching girl. He blinked again. No, that wasn't right, either. She deserved more than the half-hearted compliment that vice principal Coulson would give out to the hopeful young ladies of S.H.I.E.L.D. at school dances. She was beautiful. Perfect, even. Steve smiled. That was it, perfect.

"Perfect." He marveled, unaware that he had spoken the word that was bouncing off every bit of surface area in his brain, as opposed to simply announcing the means he planned on using to pay for his groceries.

"I'm sorry?" The girl asked, her thin eyebrows drawing together over her wide brown eyes.

Realizing his mistake, Steve grimaced before attempting to recover from the blunder.

"Oh, uh, the produce section was, er, it was perfect today. I, uh, I'm supposed by eat healthy. You know, with football and stuff." He rambled, feeling his face burn as the girl continued to stare at him in confusion.

She arched an eyebrow.

"I'm Steve." The football player added lamely, casting his eyes down to the large amount of apples lying on the counter in front of him.

"I know." The girl countered, sparing Steve a quick grin before beginning to ring up the items sitting on the counter, eager to avoid a confrontation from her boss, who had begun to linger around the area suspiciously.

A smile broke across Steve's face as he watched the demure, doe-eyed girl focus on the groceries.

"You know?" He inquired.

She smiled up at him. "You are a sort of celebrity around here. Oh, don't look so bashful, you know it's true. You're the big football star at S.H.I.E.L.D. High. My younger brother is always talking about your statistics. He's sure that you're going to play professionally when you graduate."

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "No, that's definitely not for me. I, uh, I'm actually thinking about going into the service. Football is just something I do for fun."

He tried to catch her eye as she resumed her work. After what felt like an eternity, those big, brown eyes finally flicked up to meet his. They both smiled.

"What do you want to do in the service?" She inquired as she accepted the twenty dollar bill Steve eagerly handed her.

He shrugged with a sheepish grin. "I don't know, yet. Anything they tell me to do, I guess. Mr. Fury said that I'll probably rise through the ranks pretty quickly. Who knows where I'll end up."

"Hopefully not too far." The girl responded quietly, not looking up as she broke the twenty and put together the correct amount of change.

A smile broke across Steve's face, but the football player could not think of an adequate response for the life of him. This girl, this  _perfect_  girl, was flirting with him. Not just the way Natasha flirted with him to make him uncomfortable, or the way Darcy flirted with him the way that she absent-mindedly flirted with any guy that crossed her path; this girl was  _really_  flirting with him.

"Have a nice day, Steve." She said, handing Steve a collection of bills and coins as he gathered up the grocery bags in both arms.

He grinned and nodded at her before moving in the direction of the exit.

About halfway to the door, he stopped short, as though something had struck him.

"Hey," he called, drawing the attention of half the store, including the perfect check-out girl, "you never did tell me your name."

The girl smiled a perfect smile, glancing around the store as though she were afraid that Steve had been talking to someone else. Once she seemed satisfied that Steve was staring straight at her, her smile widening considerably. "Peggy Carter."

Steve nodded again, unable to bite back the goofy grin he knew was stretched across his face.

"It was really nice meeting you, Peggy."

* * *

"I don't know, there's just something that I don't like about him." Tony Stark murmured as he paced about his dorm room, discarding articles of his clothing as he did so.

Bruce glanced up from his homework half-heartedly. His deep brown eyes were bloodshot, complemented by dark bags forming under his eyes. Fury was already attempting to force Bruce out of the science program by overwhelming him with an increasingly difficult workload. Rooming with Tony on top of the rigorous academic courses was just about more than the boy could bear.

"What do you think is wrong with this guy? He hardly said two words at dinner tonight. His brother did most of the talking. Shouldn't you be worried about him?" The curly-haired boy questioned, chewing on the tip of his pen as he scowled at an impossible schematic chart.

Tony rolled his eyes, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Noticing that Bruce had missed this obvious display of ridicule, he snorted loudly.

"Thor is an idiot. No, I don't mean that," the genius amended, snatching his tablet off of his desk and climbing into bed, "he just doesn't have anything to do with me. He's Steve's problem, not mine. No,  _Loki_  is going to be a problem for me, mark my words. Didn't you hear him when he said 'I've heard a great deal about you, Mr. Stark. I believe we have a great deal to discuss'. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? We're not even studying the same things. Think he's trying to figure out a plan to oust Pepper from presidency so he can take over?"

"Why would he do that?" Bruce mumbled, not looking up from his homework.

"Darcy said that he and Thor were temporarily banished from Asgard because they were fighting over the throne. I don't think a change of scene is enough to make the bastard any less power-hungry." Tony replied, scrolling through the latest Hawking lecture he had purchased.

"Hm." Bruce grunted, his eyebrows furrowing as he worked through his homework.

Tony spared his roommate an indignant look before rolling his eyes.

"Wonder what he's going to be studying," the genius murmured to no one in particular, setting down his tablet in order to stare up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "can't imagine he'd be interested in science. Not glamorous enough for him. He'll probably study leadership. Hopefully he doesn't have any courses with Pepper. I should probably warn her about Loki. She doesn't think about things the way I do."

Bruce made another non-committal grunt, still not looking up from his homework.

Tony ignored his focused roommate as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and set Pepper a quick, poorly-worded text message. It was better than letting her lose to a greasy-haired kid from another realm, after all.

* * *

"So, do any of you have a homecoming date, yet?" Maria Hill, Pepper's roommate, questioned, plopping on her bed and facing Pepper, Darcy, and Jane, who were sitting on the floor, comparing English notes for their upcoming test.

"Ugh, no. It looks like it'll just be me and a roll of cookie dough. Do you?" Darcy countered, tossing aside her notebook at the opportunity to have a more stimulating conversation.

"Fat chance. I'm a student worker in the administration building. Between following Mr. Fury around and surviving all of my classes, I don't really have time to flirt with anybody worthwhile. I heard there's a really cute new guy, though. Does anybody know anything about that?" Maria replied, her eyes flicking to Pepper curiously.

Darcy and Pepper immediately smirked at Jane, who blushed deeply.

"His name is Thor, and Jane is in love with him. You should have seen the way that they were looking at each other during dinner." Darcy replied, pulling on a strand of Jane's hair playfully.

Jane swatted her hand away, attempting to shake off her best friend's teasing. "Oh, stop, you're going to cause the whole school to gossip about a relationship that doesn't even exist. He's cute and he's nice. That's all there is to it. What about you, Pepper? Do you think that Steve is going to ask you to homecoming? Or maybe Tony?" She questioned, hastily deflecting the attention from herself.

Pepper shook her head vigorously. " _Tony_? Why would Tony ask me to homecoming? I don't think he's even going. If he is, he's probably going to bring one of the poptarts he insists on dating."

"What about Steve, then? He totally caught you staring at dinner tonight." Darcy questioned, already knowing the answer to her own question.

As far as any of them knew, Steve had never asked a girl out. Some people believed it had to do with his odd friendship with Natasha. Others believed it had more to do with his close friendship with Bucky Barnes.

Pepper groaned, covering her face with her hands. "I don't even want to talk about how embarrassing that was. Do you think that I could play it off as staring off into space?"

"Maybe," Jane smiled sympathetically, "but you're going to have to tell him that you were really out of it today, because it happened twice. You don't know, maybe he was flattered by it. I don't think very many girls actually talk to him."

"Can you really blame them? He's flawless. I couldn't expect someone like him to ask me to homecoming. I don't know, I was thinking about going alone. I'll probably be so busy with organizing the dance that I really won't have time to worry about a date, anyway." Pepper replied, absently reaching for her phone as it began to buzz.

Darcy rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "If you keep thinking that way, you'll never meet anybody. Then you'll be forced to follow Tony and his trollopes around for the rest of your life."

"Maybe you could ask Bruce. I know that he doesn't have a date and he's a nice enough boy. Nicer than the majority of the boys here, anyway." Jane suggested with a small smile.

Pepper glanced up from her phone in order to shake her head. "Oh, no, I'm not asking Bruce for a pity date. I doubt he's going to the dance, anyway. Mr. Fury is always discouraging him from going to school activities like dances."

"Why?" Jane inquired curiously.

Pepper shrugged, indicating her lack of knowledge on the matter, before returning her attention to her persistently buzzing cell phone.

"From what I've heard around the office, he has some sort of anger issues that make everyone nervous. Mr. Fury is always talking about ways to keep Bruce calm." Maria remarked.

"Really?  _Bruce_? He's the nicest boy I've ever met! I don't think that could be right. Maybe there's another Bruce at this school." Jane objected.

"Unless there's another Bruce Banner, I think he's worried about our very own Bruce. Hey, Pep, are you okay?" Maria questioned, arching an eyebrow as she watched her friend tap away at her cell phone with a determined expression.

Pepper looked up to meet the scrutiny of her friends, forcing a quick smile.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm super. I just need to go take care of something really quickly. Can you wait until I get back to go over parallel structure? That's the only thing that I'm really stressing out about." She answered, leaping up and moving towards the doorway, casting an anxious glance over her shoulder before walking out the door.

* * *

"There you are. I thought Tasha was holding you for ransom in order to extort the dean more than she already does. Come on, my mom's been pacing the kitchen waiting for you. She says she always loves hearing the gossip of S.H.I.E.L.D. High. I think she's just using that as an excuse to overfeed someone other than me, but don't tell her I said that." Bucky sighed as Steve entered his house, putting an arm around the blond's shoulder before guiding him towards the kitchen.

"No, Buck, I've really got to talk to you about something, first." Steve objected, trying to duck out of Bucky's grip to no avail.

"Sorry, buddy, but we've all got our burdens to bear. My mom is just yours. Here, give me those grocery bags. I'll hide them downstairs until you go. If my mom sees them, she'll start sending you back to school with food." Bucky replied, snatching the bags out of Steve's hands and setting them down by the basement stairs before propelling the blond boy towards the kitchen.

"Steve!"

With a sigh, the football player put on his most polite smile and moved forward to accept the hug that Mrs. Barnes was offering.

"Mrs. Barnes, how are you?"

"Oh, just fine, dear. Have you already eaten dinner? There are so many leftovers from dinner. You know how James is, hardly eats a thing. You would think that he's trying to lose weight from the way he picks at his plate. Now, here, sit down and tell me all about school." Mrs. Barnes chirped, already setting to work fixing Steve a plate of food.

Steve glanced down at his stomach. He should have known better than to eat a full meal before going to Bucky's house. Mrs. Barnes, the town's resident ailurophile, was always looking for ways to take care of people, and cats. Steve was her favorite cause; the fact that he had no living parents of his own seemed to give her a sense of obligation to the boy.

"Thanks, Mrs. Barnes, it looks great. Buck, you should eat some of this, too. You're going to want to bulk up a little more before facing S.H.I.E.L.D. on the football field." Steve commented, casting his best friend a smirk.

"Oh! I had almost forgotten that James' school would be playing yours so soon! You're right of course, Steve, he should be eating more!" Mrs. Barnes agreed ebulliently, retrieving a second plate and piling it with the same amount of food.

Bucky glared at Steve. "Very funny. You know that you're going to beat us. You always beat us. Do you guys even practice anymore, or have you just accepted that you've got the best athletes in the state?"

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "You know that we practice everyday after school. You're welcomed to join us, although most of the guys will think you're crazy for subjecting yourself to my cruel leadership choices. Today, I made them run a few miles. You'd think I was asking them to perform open heart surgery."

"How much is a  _few_  miles?" Bucky asked with a knowing grin.

Steve shrugged with a sheepish grin. "I lost count."

"A little bit of running would be good for you," Mrs. Barnes interjected as she handed the boys plates piled high with food, "chasing after a football is a lot healthier than chasing after all of the pretty girls at your school." She pointed her spatula at Bucky, who shook his head and laughed.

"You should be proud of me. I could be like Steve, over here, and chase after the same girl for four years without getting anywhere." The dark-haired boy replied, smirking at his best friend.

Steve scowled. "If this is about Natasha again, you know that we're just friends. If anyone's been chasing after her for the past few years, it's been you."

Bucky punched his friend in the shoulder playfully. "At least I've dated other girls in the interim. You should just let me set you up with one of the girls I know. The girls around here are crazy for you. Might as well put that to use, eh?"

"James Buchanan Barnes! Do not speak about young ladies in such a disrespectful manner! You should be taking a lesson from Steve. I'm sure part of the reason the young ladies in town admire him is because he is a gentleman." Mrs. Barnes commented, jabbing Bucky with a spatula.

"Ow, Ma! You see, this is why I'm never home. C'mon, Steve, let's get out of here while we still can. It'll only get worse from here; I can see the wooden spoon making an appearance in the near future." Bucky muttered, taking one last bite of the food on his plate before dashing out of the kitchen with Steve at his heels.

"Thanks for the food, Mrs. Barnes!" Steve called from over his shoulder as Bucky shepherded him towards the basement.

"Oh, anytime, sweetie!" Mrs. Barnes responded in her distinct, bubbly voice.

"Now that my mom isn't standing over my shoulder, how about letting me set you up with one of the girls at my school? We could double date; it would be fun." Bucky suggested as they made their way over to the poker table, carefully stepping over Beast, Bucky's cat, as they did so.

Both of the boys knew that they wouldn't actually be playing poker; neither of them even knew how. They had always intended to learn, but once they sat down at the table, they would either become so immersed in a conversation that they would forget why there was a deck of cards placed next to Bucky, or they would think of some new adventure to have, one that usually ended up with Bucky getting grounded and Steve sneaking back into the dorm to avoid curfew checks.

Steve sank into his usual chair, glancing down at the cards to avoid making eye contact with his persistent friend. "I don't know, Buck. You and I have pretty different tastes in women. Why are you always trying to set me up, anyway? Getting tired of having a S.H.I.E.L.D. kid sitting around your house and eating all of your food?" He teased, mustering a small smile.

Bucky laughed, shaking his head as he sat across from Steve. "Of course not. If it were up to me, you never would've applied to that school. That way, I'd have someone suffering through Jefferson High with me. I just worry about you, bud. It'd be nice to know that you had someone out there looking after you when I can't."

"I don't need anybody to look after me. If anything, you're the one that needs supervision." Steve responded with a slight smile, flicking a lingering piece of popcorn from their last 'poker night' at his best friend.

Bucky chuckled. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, well, as it happens, I think I might've met a girl today." Steve admitted, focusing on a dent in the table instead of meeting Bucky's eyes.

"Get out of here," his dark-haired friend said, an unmistakable tone of delight forcing his voice up an octave, "who's the lucky girl? Please tell me that it's not another assassin-in-training. I don't think either of us are ready to endure that full-time."

Steve grinned sheepishly, shaking her head. "No, she doesn't go to S.H.I.E.L.D. I wish she did. Actually, she probably goes to your school. Her name's Peggy. Do you know her?" He questioned hopefully.

Bucky stared at Steve in disbelief for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood you. Did you just say that her name was  _Peggy_? As in  _Peggy Carter_? As in  _Peggy Carter; the girl everyone has been trying to talk to since she moved here_?"

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Everyone?"

Bucky ignored Steve's crestfallen demeanor. "British accent?"

"Yeah, but what do you mean by  _everyone_?" Steve persisted, waiting for some kind of explanation from his friend.

Bucky sighed. "That's the girl. I just don't want you to get your hopes up, Steve."

"No, she flirted with me in the grocery store," Steve objected, his eyebrows furrowing as his mind replayed the conversation he had maintained with the girl in the grocery store, "she was talking about how her little brother thought that I was going to play football professionally, and how she hoped that I didn't go anywhere too far after graduating; I'm telling you, Buck, I really think that she likes me."

Bucky stared at Steve appraisingly, as though he could determine Peggy's feelings just by watching the expressions that crossed his best friend's face.

"Alright," He allowed slowly, a grin creeping across his face, "why don't we put your theory to the test? Don't you guys have some type of dance coming up?"

"Homecoming." Steve supplied automatically.

"Yeah, right, that," Bucky agreed, waving off Steve's answer, "why don't you ask Peggy? She's probably hanging out at the diner with her usual crowd. If she really likes you, she'll say yes. If she doesn't, at least you won't spend the next few months pining over yet other uninterested girl."

"Oh, uh, now? I don't really think, I mean...she...we just met." Steve argued feebly.

Bucky jumped up from his seat, grinning widely. "C'mon, buddy, where's your sense of adventure? There's a beautiful British girl just waiting to be asked to the dance. The worst thing she can do is say no!" He exclaimed, bounding towards the basement stairs.

Steve shrugged, unwilling to follow his friend. "She could laugh."

Bucky continued to smile. "Then she'd be laughing at the town's football legend. What girl would get away with that unscathed? How about this: if she says no, I'll find you a date for your dance."

"And if she says yes?" Steve countered with a slight smirk.

Bucky chuckled. "My, aren't we confident?"

"Gotta be something, right?" Steve sighed, grinning sheepishly as he followed Bucky up the stairs, towards the outside world, where Peggy was undoubtedly waiting in the most excruciatingly perfect way possible.

* * *

"Tony?" Pepper whispered, glancing around the dark hallways anxiously.

She knew that she shouldn't have agreed to meet the ridiculous genius in the middle of the school so late at night. He was probably just going to ask her to take care of some of his more tedious homework, anyway.

"Pepper Potts, the most obedient girl in the school. You know, you are always surprising me. Who would have thought that the president of the student body would break the rules so easily? Me, sure, who would be surprised? I break more rules than I could count on my hands and toes.  _You_ , on the other hand, haven't broken a single one. Until now, that is." Tony's snide voice rumbled through the hallway.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Okay, Tony, what is it that couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?"

"Can't we just revel in the fact that you're here past curfew? You, my little ingenue, have officially breached your responsibilities as president of the student body. I could have you impeached." He responded in a highly entertained tone, appearing in the dim light of the poorly lit hallway and leaning against a row of lockers.

Pepper folded her arms across her chest. "I don't need to stand here and listen to your condescending speech. You said that you had something really important to tell me. You have ten seconds before I go back to my room and study for my English exam."

Tony snorted, rolling his eyes. "You mean you're studying for that joke of a composition class you're taking? You don't need to study for that. This is much more important. You know that new kid, Loki?"

Pepper's posture straightened slightly. Now Tony had her attention. "What about him?"

"I don't like him."

Pepper's shoulders slumped as she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Are you kidding me?" She whined, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that Vice Principal Coulson wasn't lurking around the hallway, "You dragged me out of my room in the middle of the night to tell me that you don't like Loki? How old are you, again? What do you want me to do about it? I'm the student body president, not the dean."

Tony rolled his eyes, frustrated that Pepper didn't understand what he was trying to say. "It's not just a 'he rubs me the wrong way' kind of thing. There are only five people at this school that don't. I don't know, I just have a really bad feeling about the guy."

Pepper sighed, staring at Tony in exasperation. "What do you mean?"

"Did you hear the way he talked to me at dinner? He acted as though we were involved in some sort of top-secret plan, instead of just sitting around eating dinner. I don't know what he's up to, but whatever it is, it can't be good." Tony explained eagerly, thrilled to have a somewhat captive audience. Pepper was paying more attention than Bruce had, anyway.

"And why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be working through this with one of your cronies, Bruce, or maybe even the administrators here? I'm just your glorified secretary." Pepper reminded him, rolling her eyes once more.

Tony cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. "You're not just my secretary," he muttered unwillingly, "and I think that whatever Loki's up to might involve you. You know why he was sent here, don't you?"

Pepper blinked. "He and his brother kept arguing over who would take the throne. What does that have to do with me? I'm not going to ascend the throne to any foreign countries or different realms."

Tony groaned. "Work with me here, Pep."

Pepper felt her face burn. Tony never used her nickname; he had been the one to torment anyone else who dared to.

"You might not have a throne to steal, but what sort of power  _do_  you have?" The genius persisted, not seeming to notice Pepper's momentary shock.

"Student body president." Pepper answered slowly.

Tony nodded, gesturing towards her dramatically, as though she had solved some worldwide crisis instead of answering a simple question.

"Exactly! So, while he's stuck in this hellhole that we call a school, you don't think that he's going to make a play for the most powerful position he could get his hands on?" He explained triumphantly.

Pepper quirked an eyebrow, but couldn't suppress a giggle. "You mean you dragged me out of my dorm room and went through that entire process just to tell me that Loki might want to run for student body president? Tony, that's the entire point of the democratic process! I already encouraged Loki to get involved with the student government."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, indignant that Pepper was taking his warning so lightly. "Just be careful around the guy. He seems sort of, I don't know, insane." He muttered.

Pepper smiled. "Of course. I wouldn't want anyone to stage a coup when I'm still waiting to hear from colleges," she agreed in amusement, "we can't all be desperately sought-after geniuses. And with that, I should probably get back to studying for that exam. Goodnight."

"Hang on a second," Tony called after her, taking a step in her direction.

"Yeah?" She responded, turning around to stare at the genius inquisitively.

Tony ran a hand through his already messy hair. "Are you going to that dance next weekend?"

"You mean homecoming?"

He shrugged. "If that's what the kids are calling it these days."

Pepper managed to bite back a smile. "Yeah, I think I should probably stop by. It seems like the kind of thing that the student body president would do. Are you going?"

"Considering it."

"Tony Edward Stark, are you actually considering a school event that doesn't involve science? I'm shocked. What brought on this sudden change of heart?" Pepper asked, knowing right off the bat that she didn't actually want to hear the answer.

This was Tony, after all. His reason was undoubtedly either incredibly selfish or horribly perverted.

The genius simply shrugged once again, a slight smile creeping across his face.

"Goodnight, Pepper."

"Night, Tony."

As the two students returned to their respective rooms, another figure emerged from the shadows of the hallway, glancing both ways to watch the retreating teenagers. Once it was evident that neither Tony nor Pepper had noticed the furtive addition to the hallway, the figure let out a chuckle.

"How fascinating." Loki drawled, observing Tony and Pepper's fading figures before sauntering in the direction of his own room.

* * *

"I didn't actually expect her to be here." Steve murmured, making a lackluster attempt at hiding behind Bucky to avoid Peggy's doe eyes.

Bucky chuckled, stepping aside to subject Steve to the curious stares he was receiving from the diner. Before Steve could think of another strategy to hide himself, one of Peggy's friends tapped her shoulder and pointed in Steve's direction, as though she knew that it was exactly what the blond football player had been afraid of.

Peggy's eyes settled on Steve, sending his heart into overdrive. He suddenly remembered why he disliked speaking to pretty girls.

Bucky noticed Steve's rigid posture and laughed, slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"Come on, I'll help you out, pal. You're going to have to do this by yourself next time, though. Can't rely on me forever." The dark-haired boy chuckled, guiding Steve towards Peggy's table, where the group of girls were watching the two boys curiously, some of them quietly whispering to one another and giggling.

Steve opened his mouth to respond to Bucky's statement, but before he could think of the proper retort, he found himself standing in front of the table occupied by Peggy and her friends. Had girls always been this terrifying?

"Steve, hi." Peggy said, affording Steve a charming, utterly perfectly smile.

"Hey, Peggy." Steve replied in a shaky voice, mustering a nervous smile.

"Ladies." Bucky added with a self-satisfied grin.

"Bucky." The girls chorused, rolling their eyes in unison.

Steve had to chuckle as Bucky continued to grin.

"Hey, Lorraine, mind scooting over a bit? Uh, Steve, why don't you grab me a drink while you're up?" Bucky questioned, winking at Steve before sliding into the booth next to a devastatingly attractive blonde that had been watching Steve with a great deal of interest.

Steve arched an eyebrow at his friend, wondering just how Bucky was doing him any favors. As he began to seriously consider returning to S.H.I.E.L.D. on the next bus out of town, Peggy smiled up at him.

"Bucky, you are the laziest boy that I have ever met! Here, Steve, I'll help you carry the drinks. Although I wouldn't blame you if you decided not to get your rotten friend a thing." She offered, standing up from her seat and shooting Bucky a dirty look.

Steve's heart hammered against his chest. He glanced around to see if anyone else could hear it.

Bucky grinned at Steve before turning his attention to the girl by his side.

Steve took the hint and nodded, smiling at Peggy awkwardly. "Yeah, that'd be great. So, uh, so do you come here often?" He asked as the pair slowly made their way to the counter.

"Hey, Rogers," Bucky called from the booth, a mischievous twinkle lighting up his eyes, "get me a buffalo chicken pizza while you're at it, would you? I'll pay you back later."

Steve nodded with a slight grin before following Peggy to the counter and placing an order for a large buffalo chicken pizza and two waters.

"Why do you let him talk to you that way?" Peggy asked as they waited for the order to be filled.

Steve glanced at her in surprise. "Who, Bucky?"

She nodded.

Steve shrugged sheepishly. "He's my best friend. He doesn't always demand that I fetch him food. He's just, uh, he's looking out for me."

Peggy raised her eyebrows. "How is  _this_  looking out for you?"

Steve glanced at the ground, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Well, he, uh, he was just trying to give me a chance to talk to you alone."

His face burned as Peggy stared at him stupidly. He should have known better than to go along with Bucky's stupid plan. Bucky had warned him; he said that  _everyone_  tried to ask Peggy on a date. There was nothing special in particular about Steve; he was just a kid from Brooklyn. Why would Peggy choose him over anyone else?

"Why did you want to talk to me alone?" She asked in almost a whisper.

Steve studied her in confusion. "Because you're, well, you. You're perfect."

"Perfect?" Peggy laughed, shaking her head so a few dark curls fell around her face. "Steve, I am not perfect. Isn't that a bit much to think of somebody you met only a few hours ago?"

Steve shook his head quickly. "No, you are. I mean, maybe I'm coming across a little strong, but I mean," he sighed, unsuccessfully searching for the correct words, "jeez, it's like you're this beautiful girl who just says all the right things and you make me feel like a blubbering idiot the entire time, then you smile like that," Steve gestured towards the smile creeping across Peggy's face, "and I don't feel like such an idiot anymore. I guess I don't really know how to explain it without seeming like a lunatic who's never spoken to a girl before, but I like you, Peggy, I really do. Do you think that there's any way that you could consider giving me a chance? It doesn't have to be a big chance; I could be the guy whose number you scroll by every time you're on your phone. I just need something, here."

Peggy smiled, rolling her eyes. "You are not a blubbering idiot. I would be more than happy to give you all of the chances in the world." She replied, batting her long eyelashes as Steve stared back at her in disbelief.

"Really? That's, I mean, thank you." Steve blinked. "No, I don't mean thank you, well, thank you, I guess, but, uh." He closed his eyes, knowing that there was no way for him to salvage whatever it was that he had intended to say.

A light hand fell on his arm. His eyes snapped open as he stared at Peggy questioningly, hoping that she would think of something to say. She seemed to possess far more eloquence than Steve. That was bound to come in handy during their more awkward encounters. Though, Steve did hope that it didn't get more awkward than this.

"Maybe you should stop talking for a little while." Peggy suggested with a small smile.

Steve chuckled, nodding his head. "I probably should, but I have the sneaking suspicion that if I leave it at that, you'll never let me talk to you again."

Steve's thought process was interrupted as his order was called at the counter. With a hanging head, he moved forward to grab the pizza box and the drinks.

"Steve," Peggy's voice halted him immediately. "If you wanted to ask me on a date, now would be a very good time to do it."

Steve perked up. He turned to meet her eyes in a combination of surprise and excitement. The most perfect girl was not only absurdly understanding about his lack of charisma, but she actually going to let him ask her on a date. Why hadn't Bucky thought to introduce Steve to this perfect girl before their accidental meeting at the grocery store? He reminded himself to scold his friend for it later.

Running a hand through his meticulously groomed hair, Steve made an honest effort to maintain eye contact with Peggy. "Uh, well, I, uh...are you doing anything next Friday night?"

Peggy smiled and shook her head, silently urging him to continue.

"Great, well, um, my school is having this dance, you know, homecoming, and I don't usually bring a date to that sort of thing, but, uh, I would really like it if you'd go with me." He said, forcing himself to smile in what he hoped in what he hoped was not a totally creepy manor.

Peggy faltered for a moment, as though the mention of a school dance had suddenly changed her mind. Steve's heart sank. Did she dislike dances? He couldn't exactly blame her; he wasn't a sublime dancer, himself. His mind began racing, providing completely unhelpful suggestions of terribly cliche dates he could suggest instead.

Before he could come up with an answer to offer Peggy, she smiled up at him. "I would love to go to your dance with you." She assured him, putting his spinning mind to rest with the bat of two perfect eyelashes.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

S.H.I.E.L.D. High seemed to be an entirely different place the day before the homecoming dance. Girls were milling around the hallways in the hopes that the shy boy of their dreams would gather up the courage to ask them out. Boys were casting each other dirty looks, hoping that none of their friends had found the nerve to ask the pretty girl from their shared classes to the dance. Professors and administrators were avoiding any and all meetings with anxious students until the dance was out of the way and the tension the dance had brought along with it was eliminated.

Tony Stark, usually indifferent to the effects that homecoming had on the student body, couldn't help but feel slightly at edge throughout the course of the week. He hadn't bothered asking a girl to go with him because he hadn't seen the need. Any of the girls he had been considering asking would without a doubt be single at the dance.

"Are you sure that there's nothing I can say to persuade you to go to the dance tomorrow night? You could be my date, if you really wanted. I could get you a corsage, we could slow dance together, it would be great." Tony teased, smirking at Bruce as the two boys sat in the back of their astrophysics lecture.

Bruce glanced up at the professor before turning to look at Tony and shaking his head. "As much as I would enjoy being your date, I have a sneaking suspicion that we would never escape the 'science bros' rumors if the student body were to see us slow dancing at homecoming."

Tony quirked an eyebrow. "Science bros?"

"Don't play stupid, Tony. It doesn't suit you."

Tony chuckled. He was perfectly aware of the rumors. In an effort to bring the genius down a notch, some students had begun to spread rumors that he and Bruce were involved in some kind of secret romantic roommate relationship. Bruce had been horrified at the rumors, while Tony had been nothing but amused.

The genius shrugged, grinning at his unamused friend. "Alright, alright, if you want to devastate your fellow science bro, why don't you just ask somebody else? Darcy Lewis isn't that bad as long as she doesn't talk. Maria Hill is alright too, if you don't mind that type of girl. Think about it. It could be fun."

Bruce chewed on the eraser of his pencil thoughtfully, staring ahead at the board, where the professor was explaining something that both of the boys had already studied the previous semester. At least the homework would be much easier than the previous chapter's homework assignments had been.

"No, no, school dances aren't really for me. Besides, I, uh, I've got a lot of homework to do this weekend. Why do you need me to go, anyway? I know that you're only going to see Pepper." The shorter boy muttered, scribbling down useless notes in order to avoid the insulted glare he was receiving from Tony.

"Pepper? Why would I go to a school dance to see Pepper? I can see her whenever I want. If I texted her right now, she would walk through that door in the next ten minutes. You're just trying to deflect the attention. I know all of your strategies, Banner. It might work with some of the other yahoos around this school, but not me. Is this about Betty? I thought you were over her."

Bruce glowered at Tony. "This doesn't have anything to do with Betty, I just don't want to go to the dance. Leave it alone."

Tony sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hey, I'm not judging you. You guys dated for a while and then she dumped you right out of the blue. I get it. It was harsh. You can't wallow in it forever, though. What you need to do is go to the dance with some girl who thinks that she's never going to get asked, maybe suffer through an hour or two at the dance, then bring her back to the room and get over Betty once and for all. I could sleep somewhere else if you want."

The curly-haired boy sighed, removing his glasses in order to pinch the bridge of his nose. While he was counting backwards from ten, the professor noticed that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s two star students weren't paying even the least bit of attention to the lecture.

"Do you two need to continue this conversation out in the hallway?" The strict man demanded, causing the rest of the class to turn and look at the embarrassed Bruce Banner and the smirking Tony Stark.

Tony waved off the professor's comment. "No, that's alright, Dr. Selvig. I was just helping out a woebegone friend. You weren't distracting us, rest assured. Well, go ahead, then. You were in the middle of a rudimentary lecture, weren't you?"

Bruce's eyes widened. It was one thing for Tony to mouth off in his classes - Tony was always mouthing off - but it was an entirely different thing when he decided to involve Bruce in his bad behavior. Tony might have gotten away with it, being horrendously wealthy, intelligent and charismatic, but Bruce only had one of those qualities, and a handful of negative traits that Mr. Fury could easily use to boot him out of the science program.

Dr. Selvig wasn't stupid. He knew that Tony was untouchable. His sharp eyes turned to Bruce instead.

The curly-haired boy swallowed hard, glancing down at his hands anxiously. There wasn't a trace of green, yet. At least he had something going for him.

"I'm thrilled to hear that I'm not interrupting your important conversations. Perhaps you'll fill me in on why you need a private therapy session from Mr. Stark during my class after the bell rings, Mr. Banner." Dr. Selvig responded sharply, casting both of the boys a dark look before picking up where he had left off.

Bruce glared at Tony, but pretended to pay attention for the rest of the highly redundant lecture.

At the end of class, Tony leapt out of his seat and stared at Bruce expectantly.

"You coming, Banner? I hear that lunch is actually pretty decent today." The taller boy said, grinning down at his friend, oblivious to the anger that was coursing through Bruce's veins.

The shorter boy scowled. "No, Tony, I'm not coming. I have to tell Dr. Selvig why I needed a private therapy session from you today. I don't know why I keep sitting next to you in classes. You always find a way of getting me into trouble."

Tony snorted. "Don't be such a drama queen! Selvig is a marshmallow, he'll let you off with a warning. Darcy got out of a detention after spilling hydrochloric acid on her lab partner in basic chemistry last year. I doubt he'll send you to Fury's office for talking to the school's most valuable asset. Just tell him that I was explaining the lecture to you."

Bruce's eyes narrowed. "Just go to lunch, Stark. Don't you have an assistant to ask to homecoming, anyway?"

Tony flipped Bruce off in the least subtle manner possible. "Go to hell, Banner. I hope they expel your ass."

Bruce rolled his eyes, but smiled against his will as Tony skulked off towards the dining hall. Once his roommate was out of sight, Bruce turned to meet the stare of a very unhappy professor. Swallowing hard, the curly-haired boy got out of his seat and trudged to the front of the room.

"I'm sorry for the interruption today, sir," he mumbled, not meeting Dr. Selvig's intense gaze, "it won't happen again. I can move away from Tony if you think that we talk too much."

Dr. Selvig chortled. Bruce looked up at him in surprise.

"If I tried to move you away from Stark, he would just follow you across the room. This isn't my first class with him; I know exactly what he's up to. I just hoped that forcing you to stay after class might make him re-think his behavior in class."

"Sir?" Bruce questioned, raising an eyebrow at the professor.

"Technically, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but I figure since you've lived with him for a few semesters, you probably already know everything I have to say. Tony is a very smart boy, but until he learns to get past his problems with authority figures, he's never going to find out what he's truly capable of. Fury won't let any of the professors punish him, which is about the worst thing he could do to the boy."

"So you punished me instead, because you thought that Tony might feel bad about it?"

"That's a very simplified version of it, but essentially, yes."

Bruce had to laugh. "Dr. Selvig, with all due respect, sir, that is the worst idea I've ever heard. It doesn't matter who gets in trouble, he's going to do anything he wants the moment he wants to do it. The only way to keep him quiet during lecture is to muzzle him."

Dr. Selvig laughed his agreement. "That's probably true. You'd best be off then, Mr. Banner. I believe the dining hall is serving pizza today."

A smile slid across Bruce's face. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to miss that. Thanks, Dr. Selvig. And, uh, good luck with Tony."

"Good luck, yourself." The professor replied, allowing Bruce a knowing grin before turning his attention to his paperwork.

* * *

"A little birdy told me that you got in past curfew last night. Is my little Steve growing into the angsty trouble maker I knew he was destined to be?" Natasha teased as Steve sat down next to hear at lunch, her green eyes dancing with amusement.

Steve cast a half-hearted glare at Sam and Clint.

"Which bird: the hawk or the falcon?" Steve questioned, his mouth quirking into a smile.

"Falcon, of course. What the hell would Barton be doing in your dorm room last night?" Natasha replied, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as though Steve had asked the most ridiculous question on the planet.

The blond shrugged sheepishly. "He monitors everything. It wouldn't really surprise me if he found a perch right outside of my room."

"No, no, no dancing around the subject, Rogers. What were you doing out so late? Don't tell me that your poker night got so intense that you completely lost track of time." Sam interjected.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I was just talking with some friends. Why is everyone so concerned about it? I know for a fact that every one of you have missed curfew at least a handful of times."

Barton folded his arms across his chest with a smirk. "Nat said that she saw Pepper walking back to her dorm room after curfew."

Steve arched an eyebrow. "So? What does that have to do with me?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Really, Steve, are you trying to make this more complicated than it needs to be? Did you ask Pepper to the dance? She was talking about coordinating colors with her date in English today, and since you were both out so late, I thought that maybe…" She trailed off, raising her eyebrows evocatively.

Steve felt his face redden as he shook his head hastily. "Why would I ask Pepper Potts to the dance? Stark probably asked her. Honestly, I didn't even know that she missed curfew last night. Besides, I, uh, I actually already have a date to homecoming."

Everyone at the table gaped at the football player, who returned his attention to his lunch in the hopes that his friends would just let the topic go.

He should have known better.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a date? When did you get a date? It couldn't have been last night, because... _oh_. Are you taking Bucky?" Natasha asked in a hushed whisper, glancing around to see if anybody else had heard their conversation.

Steve scowled. "No, I'm not taking Bucky to homecoming. I'm actually taking a girl. I met her last night in town. You guys'll just have to meet her at the dance. You're going, right?"

Natasha nodded with a blank stare.

"So is this girl the reason that you were so late last night?" Sam asked with a knowing grin.

Steve smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. We went and got ice cream, and, I don't know, we just talked all night. She's great. I have no idea why she agreed to go to the dance with me."

"Well, well, it looks like our noble captain is finally in love! Does this mean that I'm going to have to find another place to crash after the dance? I guess I could get Thor to let me bunk at his place." Sam said, casting a thoughtful glance in the direction of the blond demi-god.

"Whoa, what do you think is going on over there?" Barton questioned as the group noticed a rift within the friends sitting at the table opposite them.

Tony looked infuriated. Infuriated might have actually been an understatement. He was jabbing a finger at Loki, who was simply smirking at the genius with his chatoyant eyes. Thor was saying something that looked like a warning, while Pepper rolled her eyes and said something that was most likely an instruction for Tony to calm down.

The group continued to watch the conflict. Loki said something with a smirk before standing up and sauntering over to the condiments station, glancing out the window thoughtfully as he did so. Never one to let anyone else have the last word, Tony leapt out of his seat and pursued the lanky boy. Rhodey, Tony's best friend, followed after the genius, looking highly exasperated.

Tony placed a heavy hand on Loki's shoulder. Thor leapt out of his seat at the sight, but before the brawny demi-god could do anything to assist his younger brother, Loki's hands constricted around Tony's throat.

Every student in the dining hall leapt to their feet. Fights were uncommon at S.H.I.E.L.D., despite the fact that the student body consisted of extraordinarily talented individuals competing with one another. What was even rarer, however, was a fight involving Tony Stark. Every student with an ounce of common sense knew better than to mess with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wonder boy. If Nick Fury didn't think up a punishment severe enough, Tony's mother would undoubtedly intervene with highly skilled lawyers.

No one had time to stop Loki. Before anyone, including Tony, could truly accept what was happening, Loki had lifted the genius off of his feet and tossed him through the nearby window as though Tony were nothing but a rag doll.

"Holy  _shit_!" Clint exclaimed as the group rushed towards the smashed window, along with the rest of the student body.

The mass of gawking teenagers were treated to the sight of a stupefied Tony Stark sprawled on the school's lawn. Luckily, the genius had been testing concealed armor; it definitely needed some tweaking before he jumped off of a cliff, but it had at least protected him enough to survive the fall.

"Did you see that? The kid threw Stark clear through the window! Fury is going to go  _nuts_." Steve exclaimed, glancing down at Natasha before craning his neck for a better look at the scene.

Thor pushed through the crowd, sparking more than a few disgruntled protests and objections from the indignant students surrounding him. Without hesitating, the taller boy grabbed his younger brother by the collar of his shirt and all but dragged him away from the window. Spectators watched with avid curiosity, but did not dare interrupt what was obviously a difficult family moment.

"Brother, have you no idea why mother and father sent us to this facility? They mean for us to learn peace and kindness. Do you think this to be a kindness? Tossing our new friend from a great height over a becoming maiden?" Thor growled, ignoring the rest of the curious onlookers as he glowered at Loki.

Loki glared back stubbornly, but responded in a low tone; neither Steve, nor the rest of the curious student body, could hear a word that he was saying.

Before anyone could bother edging closer to the brothers, Nick Fury burst through the doors of the dining hall, storming over to the brothers quickly, a dark scowl set on his face. The crowd immediately dissipated.

"Think Loki's going to get expelled?" Steve questioned as he followed his friends back to their usual table.

Natasha and Clint immediately shook their heads.

"Stark may be  _like_  royalty, but Loki _is_  royalty. Tasha and I read up on his file last night. Every one of the kid's past teachers have had some pretty fucked up things happen to them when they tried to punish him. He's apparently good at painful spells." Clint explained in a hushed tone, throwing a cautious glance over his shoulder.

Steve whistled, watching Fury escort a smirking Loki out of the dining hall, trailed by a persistent Thor. "What do you think they were arguing about, anyway?"

"Loki asked Pepper to homecoming." A deep voice came from behind the group.

Steve turned to see Rhodey standing behind them, looking thoroughly amused, despite the fact that his best friend had just been thrown out of a window. Sam immediately slid closer to Clint, patting the empty space he had created as a silent invitation for Rhodey.

Rhodey accepted the invitation, grinning at the group as he sat down.

Steve folded his arms across his chest, arching an eyebrow at the new addition to the table. "Did he really? What does Stark care? From what I've been hearing, he's dating every other girl within a ten-mile radius."

Rhodey chuckled, shrugging off Steve's comment. "Everybody knows that Tony's had a thing for Pepper since junior year. He just hasn't grown the balls to own up to it. I guess now he can't really lie about it anymore. Banner and I just made a bet on when he and Pepper get together. You want in on it? We could make it a pool."

"Oh, please," Natasha snorted, rolling her eyes. "Like Pepper would really agree to go out with Stark after  _that_." She pointed to the window distastefully. "He was already bad enough to begin with. I don't think harassing the first guy to pay her any extra attention is really a great way to impress the ladies."

"You're just saying that because you wanted to set Steve up with Pepper." Clint commented, casting Natasha a sideways grin before ducking to avoid the well-aimed punch she sent his way.

The focus turned to Steve. Sam and Rhodey both laughed and jeered at the prospect of Steve dating the organized young woman, while Clint and Natasha bickered over the logistics of their imagined relationship. Steve watched his friends curiously, unable to understand why his romantic affairs interested them as much as they did.

"I just want to see Steve in love with someone other than Bucky Barnes." Natasha claimed, as though she could read Steve's mind.

He choked on air, taken aback by her comment. "In love with…? Nat, really."

The redhead grinned back at him before resuming her meal, allowing the rest of the boys at the table to tease Steve mercilessly.

Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Can't we just talk about the fact that Tony got thrown out of a window by a Norse god? I think it's much easier than discussing my love life with all of you."

* * *

Later that evening, a loud knock drew Natasha Romanov's attention away from her studies. She spared a cautious glance back at her roommate, another Asgardian exchange student named Sif. She appeared to be sound asleep. Good. With a small smile, the redhead slunk towards the door, opening it quietly and slipping out into the hallway almost immediately.

"What are you doing here?" Natasha heard herself asking in a ridiculously silly voice, locking eyes with the grinning archer standing in the hallway with her.

"Couldn't sleep," Clint responded, a mischievous glimmer appearing in his eyes, "After everything that happened in the dining hall earlier, I couldn't stop thinking about something."

The redhead raised her eyebrows inquisitively, but smiled playfully. "Let me guess: you couldn't stop thinking about the ways that Tony could have saved himself from hitting the ground? Are you thinking about coming up with a special arrow on the off-chance that Loki decides to throw you out of a window, too?"

Clint cocked his head to the side. "You know, I wasn't thinking about that until you mentioned it. I could rig an arrow to have some sort of grappling hook come out of the end. I don't know how I'd get a rope to expand from the body of the arrow, but I could probably get Tony to help me out with that part. He's taken enough engineering classes to sort of know what he's doing."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Barton. Focus. What did you think was so important that you couldn't wait to tell me about it until tomorrow morning?"

"Don't act as though I'm distracting you from anything important, Tasha. You were just going to spend another boring night sitting at your desk trying to memorize the z-score chart. There's really no need; the professors surprise you with the chart at the final. They think it's a funny prank to play every semester. I might have been interrupting any girl talk you were having with Sif, or maybe a gossipy phone call with Agent Hill, but somehow, I figured you'd prefer my company to hers."

Another eye roll. "Why do you call everybody studying to become a spy 'agent'? It's so pretentious. Just call her Maria. I don't think that she'll be a very good agent, anyway." The redhead remarked as the pair sank down to the floor, sitting across from one another in the hallway.

"I don't call you 'agent'." Clint reminded her, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Natasha's lips twitched into a smile. "Does that mean you don't respect me?"

Clint shrugged, still grinning. "It just means I think of you as more than another agent to worry about."

"I think we learned not to trust other agents on the first day of class. You're making a few textbook mistakes right now."

An amused chuckle rumbled from the archer's chest. "Am I?"

"You are." Natasha couldn't stop herself from resting her narrow shoulder against her friend's broader shoulder.

"Maybe you should tell me to stop." Clint suggested, leaning a bit closer to Natasha.

Natasha's eyes widened slightly. "Maybe I should." She agreed, swallowing hard and nodding her head clumsily.

Clint's mouth curved into a smirk as another chuckle left his throat.

Natasha blinked, trying to avoid looking down at the blond's lips as he inched closer and closer by the second.

"I wouldn't have listened to you, anyway." He murmured, closing the distance and pressing his lips against Natasha's before she could think of an intelligible response.

It was a relatively chaste kiss. Afterwards, the archer scooted just far enough from her once more. Natasha stared at him with a blank expression. She was very careful to maintain this blank stare; she knew better than to buy into Clint's cheerful demeanor. He was just as good at reading people as she was. He would see through her in an instant if she allowed her face to betray her.

Clint smiled as though he could read her mind. "Relax, Nat. This isn't a training exercise. I'm not trying to get in your head. Give me a little bit more credit than that."

Natasha allowed herself to smile slightly, hoping that Clint would not utilize the information that they had learned in their intelligence course the previous semester. He hadn't paid a great deal of attention in that class, so it was entirely possible that he would overlook the all-too-obvious thoughts racing through her mind.

"There you go." The blond praised, affording the redhead a lopsided grin. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Natasha's eyes narrowed. She tried to bite back a smile without a great deal of success. "Don't patronize me, Barton. I can call Steve and tell him to throw you off of the football team. Fury would be pretty mad at you if he did."

"How about we don't mention Rogers when I'm trying to ask you to homecoming?" He suggested teasingly.

"You're asking me to homecoming?" The redhead clarified in surprise. She had been the only student at S.H.I.E.L.D. who had not seen this particular question coming. Even Steve had reluctantly accepted that the pair was bound to go to homecoming together. Still, Clint fidgeted under Natasha's inquisitive stare, suddenly unsure of the question that had been running through his mind for days on end.

He nodded hesitantly, his effervescent disposition crumbling as nerves got the better of him. He had been relatively certain that Natasha would immediately agree. After all, they made perfect sense. They were good together. He had not stopped to consider the possibility that she would only want to be friends.

Natasha stood up, wiping the dust off of her pants as she did so. Clint watched her curiously, wondering if he had managed to scare off the bravest student at S.H.I.E.L.D. High. He couldn't decide if doing so would be an accomplishment or the most terrible thing he had done to date.

The redhead smiled wryly as she approached the door to her room, throwing a glance over her shoulder in the archer's direction. "Pick me up at seven. Wear red."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Relax, pal. She agreed to go out with you in the first place, didn't she? She must like you at least a little bit. Just don't screw that up." Bucky chuckled as Steve paced the length of his bedroom, nervously trying to piece together a casual greeting to use the moment that he picked Peggy up from her house.

Steve shook his head. "What if she makes me meet her parents? I'm never really good with parents. I always say the wrong thing. Should I shake her dad's hand or not? He might not like physical contact. Some people don't." He rambled, cramming his hands in his pockets and hanging his head as he continued his pacing.

Bucky rolled his eyes, exasperated by his best friend's behavior. He never understood Steve's lack of confidence. "Sit down, take a deep breath, and calm down. You can't go over to Peggy Carter's house on the brink of a panic attack. Everything is going to be fine. Maybe her parents won't even be home. You're getting worked up over nothing."

Steve nodded once, moving to sit on Bucky's bed in the hopes of calming down at least a little bit. The sudden movement startled Beast, Bucky's cat, who promptly leapt off of the bed in order to avoid the potential threat. After realizing that Steve was not a threat at all, the lissome creature wound itself around the blond's legs, rubbing against him and purring all the while.

Both Steve and Bucky's eyes widened. The gray cat was leaving behind a collection of fur all over Steve's black pants.

"Beast, no!" Bucky groaned, chasing the cat away just a little too late.

While Bucky shooed his cat away, Steve tried to brush the fur off of his pants anxiously. To his dismay, it was not budging at all. The blond was beginning to think that he was trapped in one of his worst nightmares to date.

"This is a sign," He murmured, running his hand through his hair frantically, "This is a sign that I shouldn't go to the dance tonight. You know, it's probably for the best. I was never really good at dancing anyway. I'll just take Peggy to see a movie. I heard that new Disney movie is good."

"No. You are not backing out of this dance." Bucky growled, folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head. "I am not going to listen to Peggy walk around school on Monday complaining about going on some crappy date because you got a little cat hair on your pants. C'mon, I'm sure my mom has a lint roller around here somewhere."

* * *

"You are attending tonight's festivities joined by the boy with the arrows?" Sif questioned dubiously, watching her roommate apply her makeup at her desk.

Natasha's eyes finally shifted from the mirror so that she could take in Sif's rather glamorous appearance. "His name is Clint; I've told you that a million times."

"It has not been nearly so often." Sif objected in a thoroughly insulted tone.

The redhead rolled her eyes. She frequently forgot that her roommate did not understand the difference between literal meanings and hyperboles. All of the students from Asgard had trouble adopting the casual sayings and turns of phrases that had become second-nature to the majority of the student body. Thor had been horrified when Steve had claimed to be hungry enough to eat a horse.

Satisfied with her appearance, Natasha tossed her makeup in one of the drawers of her desk carelessly. Her eyes flicked up to meet Sif's once more as she started for the door.

"It's just an expression; it means that I've told you his name a lot. You really should have learned it by now." She paused, noticing that Sif had put even more effort into her appearance than usual. "Who are you going to the dance with?"

Sif's eyes narrowed. "No one."

"Hm." Natasha murmured appraisingly, giving her roommate one last look-over before exiting the room. She had no desire to wait around another ten minutes for Clint to appear, assuming that he would miraculously show up on time. She strongly suspected that he had already lost track of the time and was nowhere near ready to go anywhere other than the dining hall.

* * *

"Why are you dragging me to homecoming, Tony?" Rhodey grumbled as he leaned against the side of Bruce's desk, watching as the genius tore about the room in search of the 'perfect' tie.

Once Bruce had made it perfectly clear that he would not accompany Tony to the dance under any circumstances, Tony had begged Rhodey to tag along. The genius had even gone so far as to pay for his ticket, his suit, and any food or drinks he felt were necessary for surviving the evening. Tony truly had been desperate.

Tony dropped to his hands and knees, peering under his bed in an effort to locate the missing tie. "Pepper's going to the dance with that Loki guy. I don't think I have to explain why I think that's a bad idea, do I?"

Rhodey and Bruce exchanged exasperated looks. Neither of them had commented on Tony's borderline obsession with Loki since their confrontation in the dining hall. The mere mention of the demi-god's name could set the genius off on an hour-long rant on the dangers of his nemesis that was semi-coherent at the best of times.

Instead of answering the rhetorical question, Rhodey changed the subject. "Have you made your over-extravagant plans for Christmas break yet?"

The Stark family always spent an absurd amount of money in order to avoid the cold New York weather on Christmas. Tony took great pleasure in bragging about the intended destination, reminding his classmates that while they would be shoveling massive piles of snow, he would be stretched out on a sandy beach somewhere.

In an effort to better socialize their son, Tony's parents would often encourage him to bring a friend along. He would usually alternate between Bruce and Rhodey in order to maintain the delicate balance of his friendships. Rhodey was hoping that he would be the selected friend this year; he had heard that there would be a sizable amount of snow this year.

"Oh, uh, nothing is set in stone yet. It's only October. I think I might bring Pepper with me." Tony murmured, scratching the back of his head as he continued looking around the room in search of his tie; acting as though he had said something entirely meaningless.

Rhodey looked horrified at the very suggestion. "Why are you bringing Pepper? I thought that you two were just friends."

"Aha!" Tony exclaimed triumphantly, pulling his tie out of the mini fridge and draping it around his neck. His attention returned to Rhodey, who was still staring at him with wide eyes. "Why am I bringing Potts? She's useful. I might need her to organize things."

Bruce smiled as he chewed on his pen, but did not comment. He had been listening to Tony ramble on and on about the student body president for long enough. He had no desire to spark yet another conversation about Pepper's virtues and Loki's potential evil intentions. Still, it was amusing to hear his roommate continue to deny his all-too obvious crush on Pepper Potts.

Rhodey, on the other hand, considered this particular subject worth the inevitable lecture. "What could you possibly need organized over Christmas break?"

"Things." Tony answered cryptically, busying himself with his tie in order to avoid further questions.

"Things?" Rhodey echoed, staring at the genius expectantly.

Tony glared at his best friend before shaking his head, dismissing the argument altogether. Everyone knew that he could not think of a valid reason to bring Pepper along without confessing any feelings that he might have for his assistant.

"Let's just go; we're already ten minutes late. You sure that you want to sit around the room and brood all night instead of coming with us, Banner? There might be a girl at the dance just waiting for you." The genius said, promptly shifting the topic despite Rhodey's annoyed scowl.

Bruce smiled and shook his head. He did not bother explaining that he was not allowed to attend the dance. Doing so would only cause Tony to create a big fuss with the school's administrators, who would then be forced to explain that their rationale behind banning Bruce was their knowledge of his 'anger management struggles'. Bruce preferred to keep that particular aspect of himself hidden from the student body.

"Alright, take it easy, buddy. Try not to stay up too late with that thermonuclear project; you'll make me look bad if you make yet another scientific breakthrough this month." Tony chuckled, affording his roommate a friendly grin before dragging Rhodey out of the room, ignoring his consistent line of questioning regarding the Christmas vacation.

* * *

"Hey, have you guys read these Norse mythologies?" Darcy asked, lounging in her favorite common room chair and reading an old leatherbound book as Pepper and Jane anxiously awaited the arrival of their dates. "Jane, if there's an awkward silence at any point tonight, ask Thor about the time that he cross-dressed in order to kill a giant. It's the perfect ice-breaker."

Jane frowned while Pepper laughed. "You shouldn't be reading those stories; we don't even know if any of them are true." The brunette objected, combing her hair with her fingers and fidgeting nervously as Darcy continued to flip through the pages of the old book.

"You had better hope that they aren't." Darcy responded, not looking up from the book.

Jane rolled her eyes and turned to Pepper. "I can't believe that we're going to homecoming with Norse gods. Have you talked to Tony about the whole, um,  _thing_ , yet?"

Pepper shook her head immediately. She had not spoken to, or even seen, the genius since he had been thrown out of the window by her homecoming date. Had it been anyone other than Tony, Pepper would have been worried. Since it was Tony, however, she had simply assumed that he was busy with either the project that Dr. Selvig had assigned or the newest robotics blueprints that had been drawn up just the week before.

"He's been really busy lately," She explained, ignoring the sympathetic look that she was receiving from Jane, "apparently Dr. Selvig assigned a really tough project. It isn't out of character for him to go off of the grid for days at a time. I won't consider it a crisis until he starts sleeping more than three hours a night."

"Three hours?" Jane echoed in surprise. She had always gotten a healthy eight hours a night, knowing that her mind would not work properly the next day unless she was well-rested. The thought of accomplishing as much as Tony Stark did on three hours of sleep was astonishing, as well as mildly disheartening.

The disappointed science student was effectively silenced as the silhouette of a tall, muscular boy and a slightly taller, lankier boy came into view. Jane and Pepper smiled at each other in a combination of excitement and nervousness.

"Jane Foster, Pepper Potts; it is an honor." Thor greeted them, bowing his head slightly before beaming at Jane, his blue eyes dancing with excitement. Jane could only smile back, helplessly overwhelmed by the butterflies in her stomach.

Loki nodded in Pepper's direction, wearing a pained expression that might have caused an onlooker to believe that he was being held against his will. Pepper did not read too much into this look; the lanky demi-god always seemed to look that way.

Thor immediately began uttering numerous sentiments regarding Jane Foster. Erstwhile, Loki's narrowed green eyes surveyed the room, as the girls' common room was one of the only rooms on campus that he had not yet explored. His eyes immediately came to rest on Darcy, who was ignoring the sequence of events in favor of reading a book that the lanky boy immediately recognized.

"Well now, brother; it seems that Darcy Lewis has found the book that we have inspired." He drawled, sauntering over to where Darcy was lounging with a cat-like smirk.

Darcy immediately looked up from the book with a coy smile. She seemed to be the only student that was completely at ease around the mischievous demi-god. Pepper and Jane made an honest effort at making Loki feel comfortable at the school, but could not dismiss their own feelings of uneasiness. Darcy simply teased and flirted him as though he were like any other student.

"We're going to talk about the horse thing at breakfast tomorrow." She assured Loki, winking at him once before returning her attention to the book, effectively ignoring the mixed expressions that were crossing the faces of her friends.

Jane broke the silence, casting Darcy an unamused look before speaking up. "We should probably get going. I think they're closing the doors in a little while."

The rest of the group - aside from Loki - quickly murmured in agreement, eager to get away from Darcy's allusions to the bad behavior of the Norse gods, as well as the devilish smirks that she was sharing with lankier boy.

* * *

"I'm sorry about Mrs. Barnes," Steve muttered sheepishly as he opened the door to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gym, where the dance was being held, "I know that she can be a little much, but she means well."

Peggy smiled a heartbreakingly perfect smile and let out a small giggle. "Trust me, it is perfectly fine. My mother would have been the same way if she had known that I was going to the S.H.I.E.L.D. homecoming with Steve Rogers."

" _If_  she had known?" Steve echoed, raising an eyebrow curiously.

He had been extremely relieved when Peggy had not asked him to come inside and meet her parents. Due to his limited interactions with anyone over the age of eighteen, the football player was not very good at talking to adults, especially when they happened to be the parents of someone he hoped to continue interacting with. The thought of speaking to this perfect girl's parents sent Steve's stomach sinking to his feet.

Now, however, he was beginning to wonder why Peggy had dashed out of her house before he could even ring the doorbell. At the time, Steve had allowed himself to think that she was excited for the dance. He had been relatively excited, himself. Now it was beginning to look as though she had wanted to avoid allowing her parents to see her date for the evening.

Peggy's smile softened slightly. "Oh, no, Steve, it has nothing to do with you," She assured him, as though she could read his mind, "My parents are just very intense. If they knew that I had even met you, they would invite you over to dinner and make you tell them everything about your life. Trust me, my last attempt at dating was a complete disaster because of them."

"I don't know, I think I might owe you one night of parents after you braved Mrs. Barnes and Bucky." Steve chuckled, relieved that Peggy had not been ashamed of him.

The pair approached the punch bowl, which contained one effervescent beverage or another. Steve hastened to pour the drinks while Peggy looked around, likely uncomfortable with the prospect of being surrounded by complete strangers. Steve could sympathize with that.

"I'm going to hold you to that." The perfect girl teased, accepting the drink from Steve with a sly smile.

Steve laughed, silently reminding himself to thank Bucky for forcing him to take Peggy to the dance. He could not imagine that anything could be better than standing in the crowded gym watching the most perfect smiles dance across her perfect face. He briefly contemplated whether or not it was too soon to be falling in love.

The rest of the room seemed to conflate to the point where Peggy and Peggy alone stood out. Steve could not even seem to locate his friends among the crowd. He vaguely remembered that they had all agreed to attend the dance and behave relatively well, given that they had a football game the next day.

"Steve!" The football player closed his eyes, pretending to be annoyed as Sam's voice cut through the loud music filling the spacious gym.

"That's my roommate," Steve explained in a low voice as he and Peggy turned around to face Sam, "It's probably safer just to apologize for anything that he says in advance. Also, uh, he's a terrible liar, so don't believe anything that he says about me."

Peggy laughed, the sound causing the corners of Steve's mouth to twitch into a smile. Her laugh was just as perfect as the rest of her, he decided happily.

Sam reached the pair, a wide smile overtaking his face. He quickly looked Peggy over, still grinning, before turning to Steve and offering him a high five which the blond awkwardly refused in the hopes of appearing slightly more mature than his shameless roommate.

"Now I can see why you were trying so hard to avoid the subject of your love life. Hi, Sam Wilson. Have you ever considered dating an aspiring superhero?" Sam asked with a toothy grin, outstretching his hand in Peggy's direction.

Peggy shook the boy's hand lightly before looking back at her date with a questioning smile. "Peggy Carter. I didn't know that one of Steve's friends was an aspiring superhero. I think I might have come with the wrong date." She answered, her smile turning playful as Sam and Steve both laughed.

"First my food and now my date? Wilson, is anything sacred anymore?" The football captain joked, running a hand through his hair and pretending to be exasperated.

Sam shrugged, moving to stand next to Peggy. "I guess I can't help it. Women are naturally drawn to me. Besides, you should have known that this would happen if you brought a date as beautiful as Peggy Carter to my school. This is inevitable; we were meant to fall in love and have children with sparkling brown eyes."

"You couldn't let him have even one date, could you, Sam?" Clint demanded in an amused tone, approaching the group with Natasha by his side.

Steve's eyebrows shot up on their accord. Natasha did not wear dresses very often and even when she did, they were never as form-fitting as the one that she was currently wearing. He could feel his face reddening as his heart thundered against his chest. He could not hope that Peggy didn't notice; he was positive that his reaction was painfully obvious.

"Whoa! Tasha, you look hot." Sam announced, voicing Steve's thoughts in one grossly inelegant statement. The football player shamelessly darted to Natasha's side, conveniently forgetting that the assassin-in-training could rip his arm out of its socket at the drop of a hat.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Why did Fury let you buy a ticket, again?"

"He likes me," Sam replied with a toothy grin, "but not as much as I like you in that dress. I'm starting to understand why Steve's been so nice to you all of these years. What are the chances of you saving me a dance tonight?"

Steve felt himself blush even more at Sam's tactless comment. He could feel Peggy's inquisitive eyes on him. The rest of the group had conveniently ignored the comment - Sam was always teasing Steve and Natasha about their friendship - but that only made it seem as though everyone knew that Steve had an interest in the redhead. He mentally reminded himself to kill Sam once the dance was over.

"Not as good as the chances of me breaking your hand before the end of the evening. Um, Barton, why don't we go talk to Thor? I think that Jane left him alone to answer Stark's stupid questions again." Natasha suggested, trying to guide her date away from Sam's relentless flirting and teasing.

Sam took one look at Steve's face and quickly made an excuse to follow Natasha and Clint despite the protests he was bound to receive. The football captain was radiating anger and embarrassment. Sam knew better than to get caught up in that.

Once left alone with Peggy, Steve ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Look, I'm really sorry about them, Sam is just -"

"Tony Stark is here?" The brunette interrupted, looking around distractedly.

* * *

"I believe that the courting process is going well this evening. How do you find my friend Pepper Potts, Loki?" Thor inquired as soon as Jane and Pepper ducked out of the gym in order to use the bathroom.

Loki rolled his eyes. "She is exactly as I had anticipated."

"I am glad to hear it!" Thor boomed, clapping Loki on the back a bit too roughly, not seeming to pick up on the sarcastic tone that saturated his younger brother's voice.

The lanky demi-god was not surprised that his brother mistook his involvement with Pepper Potts for romantic interest. Thor had the misfortune of seeing the good in others, even when the bad heavily outweighed any good left in a given individual. Worse yet, he seemed to have a soft spot for his younger brother, turning a blind eye to all of Loki's shortcomings. The dark-haired boy supposed that Thor's determined ignorance was to his advantage.

While the god of thunder continued to ramble on about the prospects of love and courtship, Loki's eyes skimmed the room in search of Tony Stark. He knew that Tony would be watching his every move throughout the evening. The genius was mad with jealousy over Loki's association with Pepper Potts. The demi-god's mouth curled into a smirk. Manipulating the most influential student at S.H.I.E.L.D. High was proving to be far too easy.

The girls reemerged as Loki finally located Tony Stark. The two boys made eye contact from across the gym. Loki smirked. Tony glared. The lankier boy so enjoyed watching mortals attempt to act on their anger. It made for such entertaining scenes.

"Is Tony staring at you again? You boys need to learn how to play nice." Pepper commented, snapping Loki's attention away from the self-proclaimed genius.

Loki turned to look at Pepper through narrowed eyes. He disliked the condescending manner with which she addressed him. She spoke to him as a mother might speak to a child. While he had not courted quite as many women as Thor - or any, for that matter - he was relatively certain that he was not supposed to be treated in such a manner.

Regardless, the demi-god needed Pepper Potts if he wished to control Tony Stark. She was a necessary evil for his intentions. He quickly corrected his glare and forced himself to smile in the most pleasant way that he knew how.

"Let us not discuss Stark this evening," He drawled, lowering his voice just an octave in order to properly charm the strawberry blonde girl standing before him, "he appears to be occupied with other matters. We should occupy ourselves with other matters as well."

Pepper's eyes dilated at the change in the lanky boy's tone. Her eyes shifted to look at Tony briefly, only to see that he was, in fact, busy talking to the girl that Steve Rogers had brought to the dance. The student body president turned to focus on her date once more, deciding that since Tony was no longer an immediate problem, she could begin to enjoy Loki's company.

* * *

"Tony." Peggy choked out as the genius approached her and her date, the golden retriever himself. Tony's eyes flicked to Steve's, a smirk sliding across his face as the football player noticeably bristled.

"Hey, Peg. Can't say that I was expecting to see you tonight. I take it that Rogers asked you?" Tony asked, glancing at Steve once more before grinning at Peggy.

The girl blushed and avoided her date's inquisitive stares. "It's nice to see you, but I think that Steve and I should probably -"

"I get it, say no more," Tony chuckled, holding his arms up, feigning resignation as he smirked at Steve, "it's always awkward when the ex meets the new hunk of meat. I'll see you around Peg. Rogers, always a pleasure."

Steve's jaw clenched. He didn't know whether he wanted to punch Tony Stark or just throw up at the fact that he was on a date with one of Stark's exes. He was baffled by the thought. Why hadn't anyone told him that he was a follow-up act to the arrogant jerk? Why hadn't Peggy said anything?

"I'm really sorry about that. I should have known better than to hope that Tony would be mature about this." Peggy sighed, sparing Steve an apologetic look.

Steve nodded, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "So, you and Stark, then?"

"It was ages ago. I'm surprised he even remembered." Peggy responded in a clear attempt to brush off the uncomfortable moment.

Steve swallowed hard and nodded again. "Is there anyone else I should know about? Anyone else that you thought might forget about you?"

"Steve," Peggy objected, looking hurt by the accusation, "The last I checked, I do not belong to you or anyone else. I am entitled to date anyone that I like."

"You're right, you're right, I'm sorry. I'm just not used to this sort of thing," Steve murmured, feeling completely out of depth with the situation, "I, uh, I think I need a minute. Uh, excuse me."

Before Peggy could object, Steve made his escape. He darted into the crowd of students, unsure of where exactly he was going or what he was going to do.

* * *

After enduring the loud music and the biting remarks that Loki doled out so liberally for nearly an hour, Thor and Jane found themselves sitting outside in the courtyard. It was nice. They could finally hear what one another was saying, leading to more interesting conversations than what their friends were wearing and whether or not they liked the current song. The lack of dancing improved their spirits considerably as well; Jane had never been a good dancer, and Thor simply did not know any Midgardian dances.

"So there are really nine realms? Have you visited all of them?" Jane asked incredulously after Thor had told her a little bit about his life on Asgard. She wrapped the jacket that he had given her around her shoulders a little tighter as the night air caused goosebumps to erupt across her skin.

Thor smiled down at her fondly. "I have. As the future king of Asgard, it is my responsibility to become familiar with the territories I am destined to rule over. I must say, I am enjoying my stay on Midgard thoroughly. It might become a favorite of mine."

Jane smiled. "You say that now, but after you go home for winter break and see how great and advanced everything is, you'll never want to come back."

"Winter break?" Thor echoed, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

"We get a month and a half-long break starting in mid-December. You might want to let your parents know before you get stranded here for the entire break." Jane explained.

Her heart stung slightly at the thought of spending a month and a half without seeing Thor. The tall, muscular blond would likely spend his break fighting battles with his strange friend Sif and meeting girls from other realms. He was likely to forget all about her by the end of the break.

"My parents have banished Loki and I until the school year comes to a close," the demi-god murmured, looking perplexed, "I must remain on Midgard during the winter break. Do you think that the dean will allow it?"

"I don't know, probably. I'm sure a lot of people stay at school over the break. Um, if you wanted, you could always come home with me over break. I mean, I don't actually go home, exactly, um, it's just, Darcy and I usually stay at my mom's loft in the city over the break. My mom doesn't mind, she's usually busy with work. There's plenty of room; it would be plenty of fun." Jane offered, her voice growing progressively uncertain as Thor stared at her with those shockingly blue eyes.

Thor smiled warmly. "That is a very kind offer, Jane Foster. Unfortunately, I have sworn to look after my brother for the duration of our stay on Midgard. I could not hope to place such a burden on you and Darcy Lewis for any period of time."

"Oh, Loki can come along too, I don't mind!" Jane chirped before she could think about what she was saying, "There's more than enough room for everyone! It could be really fun. You could see the city around Christmas time and you wouldn't be stuck in the dorms for an entire month and a half."

"Have you considered your kind offer thoroughly?" Thor asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Loki can be very troublesome, as can I. I could not ask you to bear witness to our behavior and habits for such a long stretch of time."

"Have you met Darcy? I'm used to bad behavior and weird habits. Come on, what do you have to lose? It'll be fun."

"This is your last chance to reconsider." Thor warned Jane, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards.

"Thor, I would love it if you and Loki stayed with me and Darcy over winter break. I am not going to force you, but you are more than welcomed if you want to come along." Jane giggled, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Thank you, Jane Foster." Thor beamed.

* * *

"Nat, I think Steve needs you."

Natasha looked away from Clint, who had been explaining a terrible joke, to glare at Rhodey, furious that he had dared to interrupt her date. Even Sam had known better than to hang around the pair for an extended period of time. He had found some other couple to bother for the duration of the evening.

"The last I saw, he was doing just fine. I'm sure he can manage for one night without me. Go away." The redhead commanded in a clipped tone.

Rhodey shook his head a bit uncertainly. "He's in the bathroom yelling at Bucky over the phone."

Natasha sighed and rolled her eyes. "What is he saying?"

"Hell if I know." Rhodey replied with a shrug. "He isn't making much sense. All I know is that it has something to do with skipping out on his date."

"Oh, no, if Bucky is trying to convince him to end his date I'm going to kill him. I had better go talk to him." The redhead muttered, immediately walking past Rhodey with Clint at her heels.

Once the pair reached the bathroom, they both walked in without hesitation. Natasha was not in the least bit concerned about walking into the men's bathroom. Men did not make her nervous; she made them nervous. If they disliked her presence, they could find another bathroom.

They immediately found Steve leaning against the sinks in the bathroom, phone pressed to his ear and his hair tousled, as it always was after he had run a hand through it too much. It was evident that he was anxious about something; just what could have triggered the blond over the course of the evening, Natasha had no idea.

"What's the matter with you?" Clint demanded, folding his arms across his chest and raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the taller boy.

Steve looked at the pair standing before him in surprise before speaking into his phone once more. "Uh, Buck, I've got to go. Yeah, I'll be fine. Nat and Barton are here. No, that's alright; thanks, though. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

He hung up the phone and glanced at his friends tentatively as he returned the phone to his pocket. Steve was not entirely surprised to see Natasha in the men's bathroom - he had seen her in far stranger places with no explanation to offer - but he couldn't quite understand why the pair had entered the bathroom together.

"Please tell me that Bucky didn't convince you to leave the dance already." Natasha snapped.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why would Bucky convince me to leave the dance?" He asked.

Natasha and Clint exchanged surprised glances.

"What were you two talking about while you're hiding in the bathroom? What couldn't wait until after the dance?" Natasha demanded.

"You left Peggy to fend off Sam alone." Clint added.

Steve shook his head and placed a hand over his eyes in frustration. "She dated Stark."

"What?" Natasha and Clint chorused, both of them looking noticeably thrown by their friend's dilemma.

Steve nodded. "Peggy dated Stark. They were just talking about it as if it were the most normal thing in the world, right in front of me. I thought she was perfect. Now I don't know what to think."

Natasha and Clint both frowned immediately.

"Come on, Rogers, you've got to be realistic, here. You're going to have a tough time finding a girl that Stark  _hasn't_  dated. As long as they aren't dating anymore, I don't see the problem. She's hot, she likes you, and up until this point, it seemed like you were crazy about her. Suck it up, put on a smile, and go out there before Sam decides to show her that weird clover thing he does with his tongue." The shorter boy dictated, grinning and placing a hand on Steve's shoulder good-naturedly.

Natasha shook her head, taking a step to the side in order to block the door. "Barton, are you serious? Don't listen to him, Steve. If you're having second thoughts about this date, you don't have to continue it. You're a catch; you don't need to settle for someone that you can't imagine being happy with."

Steve smiled while Clint frowned. It was obvious that the taller boy took comfort in Natasha's words, while the shorter boy disapproved of them thoroughly. The redhead could not decide whose reaction she cared about more.

"What does it matter if she dated Stark? You liked her before you knew, didn't you?" The archer persisted, ignoring Natasha's narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, I did, but -"

"If she dated Stark, why would she date Steve? They're totally different people. He should date someone who knows exactly who he is and likes him because of it." Natasha interrupted, ignoring Steve's comments.

Clint folded his arms across his chest and furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know that Peggy doesn't? Let him figure it out; you can't keep coming to his rescue every time it looks like something might go wrong. Rogers, this isn't a question anymore. Man up and deal with your date. Do what you have to do. If you need to end it, end it. If you think there's a chance that it could work, give it a shot. Don't wait for us to sort this out for you."

Having made his speech, the shorter boy pushed Steve in the direction of the door, not waiting for Natasha to put in her own argument. The redhead was always arguing with anyone who dared question what she thought was best for Steve.

Natasha glared at Clint before darting out the door after Steve, still trying to reason with him. Clint gave an annoyed huff and followed the pair, attempting to retain his cheery disposition despite the fact that nothing was going right.

* * *

"Tony Stark." Loki drawled, approaching the genius, who was currently leaning against the wall nearest the exit, observing the fun that everyone around him appeared to be having.

Tony's dark eyes immediately shifted to meet Loki's suspiciously. He had noticed the demi-god staring at him throughout the course of the evening. It had not been a lusty stare, nor had it been a disgusted stare; the genius was relatively familiar with those types of stares. The looks that he had been receiving could only be described as predatory. It was enough to cause chills to erupt down the genius' spine.

"Odinson." Tony growled, tilting his head in recognition.

Loki smirked, leaning against the wall next to Tony. "You mustn't greet me in such a cool manner. Others will begin to believe that we dislike one another. We could not afford such rumors."

Tony's mouth curved upwards slightly. "Should have thought about that before you tossed me out of a window."

"Banalities." Loki shrugged. "I would have liked to avoid the situation altogether, but you were rather persistent. You will excuse my short temper."

"Will I?" Tony questioned, his eyebrows shooting up.

"You will." Loki answered with a curt nod. "There are much more pressing matters than your little fall."

Tony snorted, looking around to see if anyone else could hear the ridiculous conversation that he was becoming involved in. "Little fall? The dining hall is on the second floor. You could have killed me! You're lucky that I was testing out some armor. You're lucky that you don't live on Earth. My mom would sue the shit out of you if you did."

"I am highly uninterested in what actions your mother would take under various scenarios. The situation is as such: you cannot do a thing to me, while I may do anything I please with you." Loki purred, his eyes surveying Tony carefully.

The genius fidgeted under the demi-god's intense stare. He did not enjoy being intimidated by something as simple as a look, but he could not help the feeling of unease overwhelming him. In one last attempt at retaliation, Tony cast his nemesis the most withering look that he could manage. Loki merely laughed.

"I can see that you are determined to make this difficult; very well. Let us discuss these matters in a more discrete venue. Would you be so kind as to invite me to your own humble residence?" The demi-god asked, arching an eyebrow as he continued to smirk.

Tony overlooked his disbelief and succumbed to his own curiosity. "My roommate'll be there."

"He will not," Loki argued, pushing open the exit door and waiting for Tony to walk through it before following the genius, "he is currently with Darcy Lewis in the girl's common area."

"Stalking Banner, too, are we? Pepper wasn't enough?" Tony grumbled, trudging in the direction of his room.

Loki rolled his eyes. "I do not stalk. Darcy sent me a text message informing me of Bruce Banner's company. As for Pepper Potts, I cannot imagine that I have exhibited any behavior that could resemble stalking. I spoke to her in the presence of friends at all times. I did not take an interest in her beyond that."

"Didn't you?" Tony challenged irritably, "Seems you took enough interest in her to ask her to the dance."

"If you are the genius that you claim to be, you should understand that Pepper Potts served as leverage; I have no interest in her beyond that. I would not recommend relaxing at this information. I may not have any particular romantic interest in her, but I am confident that she could develop an interest in me if I were to exert the necessary effort." Loki explained in an exasperated tone, following Tony into his dorm room.

The genius whirled around to look at the demi-god. "You're using Pepper to get to me? Did you ever consider, oh, I don't know, just asking if you could talk to me?"

"Your difficult behavior made for too much chance."

"What exactly were you chancing? What do you want?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "You, of course."

Tony's eyes were the size of saucers. "Whoa there, big guy. Look, I, uh, I respect the effort and I'm flattered and all, but you're not really my type. I'm sure there's some other guy at the school for you. Y'know, I heard that Sam Wilson was -"

"Stark, I am not vying to court you." Loki huffed, rolling his eyes once more.

Tony held his hands up and shook his head. "No one is blaming you, man. It happens, I get it. There's no need to be embarrassed."

Loki glowered. "Open your window for a moment."

Tony grinned. "Pushing your crush down on the playground? Really, Odinson? I thought someone as refined as you would find a more elegant way of expressing your feelings."

The demi-god folded his arms across his lean chest and took a deep breath, his eyes fluttering shut in an effort to calm himself before he tossed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most beloved genius out of yet another window.

"I do not wish to court you. I cannot express how thoroughly the idea repulses me. I have taken a special interest in you solely for your influence over Mr. Fury. I wish to exert the same amount of influence, if not more. It seems that the simplest route to attain such power is through you." The taller boy explained, his usually-smooth voice dripping with an unmistakable tone of irritation.

Tony arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think that I'm going to help you?"

"If you help me, I will surrender Pepper Potts over to you." Loki answered easily.

Tony scowled. "How do you know I won't just take her?"

"If it were possible for you do so, I would imagine that she would not have attended the dance with me." The demi-god responded cynically.

"Well, now that you've ditched her, I think I stand a pretty good chance." The genius bit back.

Loki chuckled. "I did not 'ditch' anyone, as you so crudely put it. I informed Pepper Potts of my imminent departure. She believes that I am working through any resentment you might feel towards me in an effort to create peace within the confines of our friendship. She is not completely wrong to believe so."

Tony frowned. "How exactly am I supposed to help you? You're either important to Fury or you aren't. There's really no in-between."

"You and I must forge an alliance," Loki answered simply, "while I am already a priority at this institution, I believe that aligning myself with you will give us both formidable reputations. As promised, once you have been of use to me, I will gladly return Pepper to you."

"You'll return her alive, right?" He clarified dubiously.

Loki smirked. "Yes, Stark. I will return Pepper Potts to you entirely unharmed."

Tony extended a reluctant hand. Loki stared down at it as though it were something it were something foul. The genius rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You're supposed to shake it." He explained impatiently.

Loki's lip curled in disgust. "Why?"

"I don't really know." Tony admitted sheepishly.

Loki rolled his eyes. "You have my word. That is sufficient. Goodnight, Stark."

"Night, Loki." The genius murmured, watching the departing god with a thoughtful stare.

* * *

Steve ran a nervous hand through his hair and avoided Peggy's eyes as he walked with her to the bus stop. He had apologized to her a number of times after rejoining her in the midst of the noisy dance, but the guilt continued to eat away at the football player.

To the blond's dismay, the bus came into view before he could think of another way to phrase an apology. He stepped forward, desperation overwhelming him at the prospect of losing Peggy forever. Peggy looked at him inquisitively.

"I, uh, I guess it's probably too much to ask for you to forget what a jerk I was tonight, huh?" He murmured sheepishly, staring straight at the ground in an effort to avoid the strict look that he was sure Peggy was casting his way.

"My memory is a bit too good for that." Peggy agreed in an almost-amused tone. "I suppose you'll just have to redeem yourself next time."

Steve's head shot up. "Next time?"

Peggy smiled that completely, utterly perfect smile that sent Steve's heart hammering against his chest. He stared at her in disbelief. He could not bring himself to entertain the possibility that he had not completely ruined his chances with this perfect girl.

"You didn't think that I would let you go so easily, did you?" She laughed as she stepped onto the bus, smiling over her shoulder at the astonished football player, "You still owe me an awkward dinner with my parents."

Steve grinned. He couldn't help himself. It felt as though he was radiating joy. He was being given the opportunity to continue seeing this warm, understanding, perfect girl, despite the fact that he really did not deserve another chance.

"I swear it'll be better than this." He assured her, his voice quivering with enthusiasm. He was relatively certain that he resembled a puppy, but he could not be bothered by it. Not when Peggy Carter was being so perfectly charming.

Peggy flashed him another disarming smile.

"It had better be," She agreed with a laugh, stepping off the bus despite the driver's disgruntled protests, "Goodnight, Steve."

She planted a quick kiss on his cheek before skipping back a few steps, smiling, then hopping on the bus. For his part, Steve could only muster a lopsided grin. His mind was still processing the fact that Peggy was giving him another opportunity to impress her.

While the dumbfounded blond continued to grin, the grumpy bus driver insisted that Peggy either find a seat or find another way of returning to town. Steve beamed and blushed as Peggy smiled back at him once more before shuffling down the narrow aisle of the bus and finding a seat.

Even after the bus departed, Steve remained at the bus stop, unable to wipe the goofy smile from his face. Peggy Carter was perfect; she truly was. She was giving him a second chance after he had acted like a possessive jerk. The fact that she hated dated Tony Stark no longer mattered to him. Of course Tony had taken an interest in her - who wouldn't? Besides, she had agreed to go to the dance with Steve instead of Tony. That had to count for something.

Steve smiled to himself as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked in the direction of the school, quietly hoping that Sam would not have any guests in the room when he returned.

* * *

"Have a good night?" Darcy questioned with a yawn as Jane and Pepper entered the common room, both of them giggling among themselves.

"Jane did." Pepper teased, nudging her blushing friend.

Darcy looked at her best friend with raised eyebrows. "Want to share with the class?"

"She and Thor disappeared halfway through the dance. After I got abandoned by my own date, I went out to find her and saw her lip-locking with a god." Pepper stated, smirking at Jane before taking a seat next to Darcy.

"Jane," Darcy gasped in a scandalized tone, "making out on your first date? What would Odin say?"

"Odin?" Jane questioned distractedly, her eyebrows furrowing.

Darcy rolled her eyes and gestured towards the book that had occupied the majority of her evening. "Odin is their dad, according to that book. Apparently he gave up an eye in order to gain ultimate wisdom. I don't think he would approve of some Midgardian harlot running around and corrupting his son."

"I am not a harlot!" Jane objected, plopping down in the chair next to Darcy.

"Hey, there's no reason to be ashamed," Darcy shrugged with a wicked smile, "I'm sure you rocked his world. Should I assume that I'll be seeing more of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest football superstar?"

Jane smiled guiltily. "Um, yeah, you can definitely assume that. You'll see a lot more of Thor and probably a lot more of Loki too. Especially around Christmas."

Darcy sat up quickly. "You didn't."

"Thor said that they didn't have anywhere to go for the break," Jane explained, a sheepish smile crossing her face, "and if I invited Thor, I had to invite Loki. They were just going to sit around the dorms and play board games with Mr. Coulson. It would have been cruel not to invite them."

"You just wanted to see him over the break." Pepper accused with a laugh.

Jane couldn't bit back a smile. "A month and a half is a really long time."

"No kidding; we're going to have to see Loki every day for that amount of time. Do you know what kinds of things are in this book? He has a son that is a wolf. I don't really get how that's possible, but this wolf is really giving the folks of Asgard some trouble." Darcy informed her best friend, gesturing towards her book emphatically.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Stop reading that book. You don't know if it's even true. Anyway, you like Loki. Now you have an opportunity to corner him and ask him all about the stories you've read. Maybe he'll even answer a few."

"You're telling your mom." Darcy murmured, getting up and trudging towards the staircase. "You're telling  _my_  mom, too. I still can't believe that you invited those boys to spend the entire break with us after one date. I was hanging out with Bruce earlier and he seemed kind of annoyed with Tony; should I have asked him to move into our room?"

Jane rolled her eyes as Darcy exited the common room. She knew that her best friend wasn't mad about the news; Darcy loved getting a new audience to torment, especially if said audience had an entire book of potential blackmail. It was far more likely that she was dreading explaining the presence of two young men to her overprotective parents.

"So, you and Thor?" Pepper commented, arching an eyebrow and smiling.

Jane smiled, blushing slightly. "He said that he wants to court me. I don't really know what that entails, but I think I'm going to like it."

* * *

"Sort of a weird first date, huh?" Clint murmured, staring at his feet as he and Natasha sat on the sidewalk outside of the gym, neither one of them feeling particularly inclined to return to their roommates.

Natasha gave her date a sideways glance. "I think that might be a slight understatement."

"Just a slight one," Clint chuckled, "but overall, it still went better than I thought it would. That's got to count for something, doesn't it?"

"How bad did you think that tonight would be?" The redhead demanded.

Clint shrugged with a slight smile. "Two trained assassins attending a dance full of belligerently drunk teenagers with intense combat skills? How well could it have gone?"

"When you put it like that, why the hell did you ask me in the first place?" Natasha couldn't help but laugh.

Clint grinned sheepishly. "I guess I like you more than I dislike high school dances."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "How romantic."

"Says the girl who spent her entire first date babying Steve Rogers." The archer quipped good-naturedly.

"This wasn't my first date." The redhead muttered defensively.

Clint raised an eyebrow cynically. "Really, Nat? You were sitting next to me in intelligence last semester. You're not a very good liar and I got an A in the class."

"Fine," Natasha sighed, "was it really obvious?"

"You disguised it well." Clint lied, the corners of his mouth twitching into an amused grin.

The redhead rolled her eyes, but did not comment on her date's obvious lie. Instead, she focused on the subject looming over their heads, waiting to be discussed.

"You can't ask me to stay away from Steve."

Clint's smile softened. "No, I can't. I know how you guys are; Steve comes first, I get that. All I'm asking is for an hour, maybe two, where we can hang out without him, just the two of us. Is that really so hard to ask?"

"You make it sound a lot easier than it is," Natasha admitted with a small smile, "but I can try."

The archer smiled and wrapped an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "That's all I ask. Now, the night is young, everyone is breaking curfew - what do you say we go for some late-night Taco Bell?"

"When have you ever known me to turn down Taco Bell?" Natasha answered, jumping up from the ground and grinning down at her date, "Let's go. No Steve, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Darcy, you're not seriously wearing that." Jane commented, arching an eyebrow at her best friend.

"What's wrong with it?" Darcy demanded, looking down at her shirt in annoyance.

"There is nothing incorrect about your attire to my knowledge," Loki interjected with an amused smirk, "You look just as presentable as Jane Foster."

Jane rolled her eyes in frustration. It was the night of the biggest football game of the year - S.H.I.E.L.D. versus Jefferson High - and Darcy was wearing a Jefferson shirt. Jane wasn't even sure why Darcy  _owned_  a Jefferson shirt. Loki, of course, had followed suit, thrilled to do something that might cause a bit of conflict.

"Both of you: change. Darcy, my boyfriend is a first-string on the team. As my best friend, you should be wearing something school spirit-y. Loki, you're helping Steve with the plays on the sidelines. I know that you're trying to pretend that you hate your brother, but at  _least_  wear a plain shirt without the other team's mascot on it. Do you think you could both try to make tonight something other than one giant chore for everyone around you?" Jane demanded, planting her hands on her hips and staring at the pair standing before her critically.

Loki and Darcy exchanged sheepish grins. The two had grown close over the past few weeks, bonding largely over the fact that they enjoyed stirring up trouble throughout the school. While Darcy generally stuck to smaller-scale things such as pranks and jokes at the expense of others, she would occasionally assist Loki in the more elaborate pranks that he enjoyed playing on the professors at the school. They often spent time together in detention.

"I'll put a S.H.I.E.L.D. sweatshirt on, but if I end up getting warm and taking it off, I'm sure Jefferson will appreciate having another fan. They're going to need all of the support they can get." Darcy stated at length, sharing an amused grin with Loki before skipping towards the stairwell.

Jane turned to face Loki, intensifying her scowl. She had spent enough time with the demi-god to know that convincing him to do anything was a struggle. Still, she was not going to let his craving for mischief ruin what was supposed to be one of the greatest nights of the year.

The lanky boy smirked before bowing his head in acquiescence. "I will look for more appropriate attire."

Jane let out a relieved sigh as Loki wandered in the direction of his own room. There was no doubt in her mind that Loki and Darcy would find some other way of misbehaving throughout the course of the evening, but this was a start. Hopefully she would be able to handle anything else they threw in her direction.

* * *

"Going to watch Rogers play?" Tony questioned as Pepper rushed out of her office.

Pepper turned to look at the genius in surprise, but continued walking. She was running late for the game and she was responsible for the coin toss. She didn't have time to listen to Tony teasing and mocking Steve Rogers. He would have to compensate for his insecurities elsewhere.

"I don't have time for this, Tony." She sighed when he followed her.

"I know," Tony grinned, "You've got that coin toss thing, right? Are you staying for the game afterwards?"

Pepper's eyebrows furrowed. "Of course I'm staying for the game; this is the biggest game of the year and I'm the student body president."

"And Steve Rogers will be there in spandex." The genius taunted.

Pepper's eyes narrowed. "Is there something that you want, Tony?"

"There is," Tony answered easily, "although I was kind of hoping to talk to you for more than a few seconds. Meet me under the bleachers during half time."

"You're going to the game?" Pepper asked dubiously.

Tony shrugged. "I don't mind football. Besides, this is the biggest game of the year and I'm the school's most valuable asset. Halftime, the bleachers. Be there. I have something that I want to ask you."

"What do you want to ask me?" Pepper questioned automatically.

Tony smirked. "Halftime, Potts."

Having made his mysterious request, the genius afforded Pepper one last smirk before sauntering down the hallway in the opposite direction. Pepper glanced after him, her mind racing with potential questions that her ridiculous sort-of employer could ask her. After allowing herself to imagine even the most unrealistic scenarios, she shook her head and reminded herself that she had much more pressing matters to attend to. Tony probably just wanted to ask her to run a budget for the next semester anyway.

* * *

"Agent Romanov, where is your school spirit? You're supposed to wear my practice jersey to the game. Does tradition mean nothing to you?" Clint Barton teased as his redheaded girlfriend came in to view sporting her usual dark attire.

Natasha glanced around the field, where the rest of the football team was practicing. "Well,  _Agent Barton_ , I think that you should consider yourself lucky that I am even going to the game at all. You would not believe the amount of homework I have for my public speaking course."

"Not enough to keep you away from the celebratory party after the game, though." The archer clarified with a toothy grin.

Natasha folded her arms across her chest. "I don't know if you're going to win the game or not; you look like you've been slacking off on practices. You're losing all of your muscle definition. If you're not careful, even Sam will be able to beat you at sparring."

Clint rolled his eyes and turned to look at Sam skeptically. When he did so, his eyes met Steve's. The captain sighed and planted his hands on his hips before approaching the pair, leaving Thor in charge in his absence.

"Nat, am I going to have to start banning you from the practice fields?" The taller boy asked good-naturedly, staring at his friends in an all too familiar combination of exasperation and amusement.

Natasha smirked back at Steve. "I think that would only be more work for you and the security guards. You should really be trying to make Barton behave; he's the one that's slacking off during your practice."

"I think that you have a bit more control over him than I do," Steve chuckled, sparing his teammate an amused grin before meeting his redheaded friend's eyes once more, "tell him to run drills like everyone else."

Clint raised a challenging eyebrow at Natasha. She smirked back at him. Steve was no longer such a sore spot in their relationship; Natasha had been able to avoid mentioning and/or contacting her best friend when on dates with her boyfriend, while Clint accepted that when the aspiring soldier happened to be present, Natasha would always take his side.

True to form, the redhead smiled up at Steve before smirking at Clint. "Go run drills like everyone else."

"You heard the lady, Hawk." Steve laughed triumphantly.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Go to hell, Rogers. At least let me talk to Tasha for a minute without a lecture on acting like everyone else. If I was acting like everyone else, I'd be doing that Nordic ritual over there."

Steve whipped around to see Thor instructing the rest of the team to hop and chant in a strange combination of cries and yelps. The captain groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. It was clear that he had been working through the Asgardian prince's abnormal behavior for some time now.

"Thor, you're supposed to be running passing drills." Steve groaned, trudging over to where the grinning demi-god was encouraging his teammates.

Clint turned to face Natasha with a lopsided grin. "I paid him twenty bucks to start a ritual every time that Rogers interrupts us."

"You're an idiot." Natasha muttered, rolling her eyes in an attempt to seem unamused. Her mouth betrayed her as it curved into a small smile, "Anyway, it was a waste of money. I really do have to go. Peggy is  _insisting_  that I sit with her. She still thinks that I'm trying to steal her boyfriend."

"Now who would ever suspect that you and Steve are anything but good friends?" The archer inquired, attempting to feign shock and failing miserably.

Natasha rolled her eyes once more and punched her boyfriend's shoulder before he could duck away. "You know that Steve and I  _are_  only good friends. Peggy just keeps showing up at really bad times."

"Like the time you were getting the cobweb out of his hair?" Clint asked in an amused tone.

"If you boys dusted every once in a while, there wouldn't be any cobwebs getting stuck in anyone's hair." Natasha bit back.

Clint chuckled. "Funny how these things always wind up being my fault."

Natasha shrugged. "Not funny, but definitely true. I've got to go; I'm already five minutes late and the last thing I need is for Peggy to come looking for me. If she found me within a ten mile radius of Steve, she would probably think that something happened. Good luck with your game. Try not to get killed."

"That's always my main goal." Clint agreed, affording Natasha one last grin before jogging over to the rest of his teammates, who were beginning to march in the direction of the locker rooms.

* * *

"Steve!" The football player whipped around upon hearing his name. The owner of the voice was unmistakable.

"What are you doing back here, Buck?" Steve questioned, glancing back at his team before grinning at his best friend.

Bucky waved off Steve's question. "Just checking in with you before we slaughter your team. Wanted to make sure that you wouldn't take the loss too hard."

Steve chuckled. "Not at all. Although, I saw the drills that you were running earlier. If you really think that you or your second string QB can run the ball past our defense, you are even dumber than I thought."

Bucky shook his head, pretending to be offended without succeeding. "Punk." He muttered, outstretching his hand towards Steve with a small smile.

Steve glanced down at the hand before shaking it and pulling his best friend in for a quick hug.

"Jerk." He mumbled, clapping Bucky on the back twice before releasing him and straightening his shoulder pads the best that he could.

"I guess I'd better get back to my team. I don't trust them to sit on the bench unsupervised. You have no idea what kind of stupidity those guys are capable of." Bucky said, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the exit before grinning at Steve.

Steve nodded. "I should get back to my guys, too. I don't worry so much about their intelligence as I do their ability to follow directions. You've met Barton, you know what I'm up against."

Bucky laughed, acknowledging Steve's difficult teammate. He turned to exit the hallway, undoubtedly anxious to get back to his team. Steve watched him for a moment before turning around to return to his own team, hoping that Thor had managed to keep Clint out of trouble in his absence.

"Hey," Bucky's voice forced Steve to turn around again, arching an eyebrow at his friend as he did, "Peggy's out there."

Steve grinned back at his best friend. "Thanks."

With that, the two football captains quickly returned to their respective teams, stomachs filled with bricks at the thought of facing off against one another.

* * *

Pepper tapped her foot anxiously as she watched the clock count down the minutes until halftime. It really had been incredibly cruel of Tony to leave her hanging in suspense for such a prolonged period of time. While she should have been paying attention to her teammates' efforts at winning the important game against Jefferson, she was distracted by her constant guesses at what the genius might ask her.

Tony had recently formed a friendship with Loki Odinson seemingly out of the blue - could the question have anything to do with that? Pepper wouldn't put it past Tony to rent her organizational services out to his friends, new or old. On the other hand, it might have something to do with the vacation that Rhodey had been pestering the genius about for weeks. Pepper had been asked to make arrangements for Tony's vacations before; he probably wouldn't think twice about asking her to do it again.

"Are you okay? You've been acting jumpy all night." Jane commented, eying Pepper curiously.

Pepper nodded vigorously. "I'm sorry; Tony just told me that he had something to ask me at halftime and I've been trying to figure it out all game long. You don't think he would ask for my kidney, do you?'

"Wouldn't put it past him." Darcy chimed with a shrug.

Jane rolled her eyes. "If he asks for your kidney, just say no. I think that he would probably ask for Bruce's first, anyway. What if he's actually asking you something nice, like on a date?"

"A date?" Pepper couldn't help but laugh at the thought, "Tony would never ask me on a date. I think it's more realistic to worry about my kidneys. Oh, a few seconds until halftime - I'd better go meet him. Keep your phones on; I'm going to text you if he tries to harvest my organs."

Jane and Darcy laughed as Pepper stood up and brushed off her pants.

"Good luck!" Jane called after her.

Pepper threw a smile over her shoulder as she skipped down the steps leading to the bottom of the bleachers. As she ducked under the bleachers and looked around for Tony, she allowed herself to think about Jane's earlier suggestion. Tony  _had_  been acting strange lately. Well, stranger than usual, anyway. If he were to ask her on a date - a purely hypothetical scenario, of course - it would explain some of the stranger behavior.

Using the same, completely ridiculous hypothetical scenario, Pepper wondered how Tony would ask her on a date. He was not a particularly romantic boy. He would probably get someone else to do it. Or, more likely, he wouldn't even ask. He would simply call his parents' car around and assume that she would be thrilled to tag along. She couldn't help but laugh to herself at the thought. For a self-proclaimed playboy, he really didn't know anything about women.

If, for some reason, she did decide to go along with him, where would he take her? He wouldn't dare bring her to the same restaurants that he brought every other girl. Even Tony had to know better than that. After all, Pepper was so different from any of the other ridiculous girls that he had dated. Maybe he would take her to the documentary on bees that she had been telling him about at lunch. Better yet, maybe he would take her somewhere where they could just talk for hours on end. The pair had not had much time to talk one-on-one this semester. Pepper had almost begun to miss her ridiculous discussions with Tony.

"Potts." Tony's voice brought Pepper back to reality. Her heart gave an involuntary thump against her chest. She briefly contemplated the reason for the strange feeling in her stomach, but shrugged it off as she approached the dark haired boy.

Pepper made an effort to scowl as she crossed her arms. "Why are we standing under the bleachers in the middle of a football game, Tony?"

Tony shrugged, looking around as his mouth curved into a grin. His brown eyes gleamed with impish amusement. "I never could resist just a touch of drama. Don't you think this is better than texting or asking you after dinner?"

Pepper's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't help but believe that Jane had been right; Tony was going to ask her on a date. All of the signs were pointing towards it. He was beating around the bush - something that Tony Stark  _never_  did - he was acting mysterious, and he was acting as though he was about to ask an extremely important question while already knowing the answer. He would not have acted nearly as smug if he were about to ask Pepper to donate her kidney.

"What is it that you're asking me?" She questioned, her voice shaking slightly. She blinked, slightly taken aback by the nerves threatening to overwhelm her. When she had considered the idea of Tony asking her out, she had never felt nervous, only amused. She had imagined that she would give him an entirely obnoxious answer to compensate for the bad behavior that she had experienced throughout the course of their strange friendship.

Tony smiled and sauntered closer. Pepper felt herself blush and couldn't help but feel relieved that it was too dark for Tony to notice.

"Now, I don't want you to feel obligated to say yes. I know that I've taken advantage of the fact that I got you into S.H.I.E.L.D., but this is completely your call." He clarified.

Pepper's heart stuttered in her chest. This was happening. Tony Stark was going to ask her out. She was not prepared for this moment at all. She was vaguely aware that she was going to say yes, although she could not imagine that agreeing to go on a date with him would be a good idea. Her mind began racing with the explanation she would offer her friends come Monday morning. Darcy would never forgive her for breaking their alliance against the genius.

"Okay, what am I saying no to?" She asked quietly, hoping that she sounded a lot calmer than she felt.

"Alright, I'm just going to come out and ask," Tony said, nodding his head and causing Pepper to internally panic even more than she already had been, "do you want to come on vacation with me over Christmas break? I could really use someone there to help me schedule things."

* * *

Bucky's team was holding up well against the S.H.I.E.L.D. High football team. They were losing, of course, but they were actually providing the opposing team with a challenge; something the members of the successful team relished.

Steve grinned at Bucky as he took the field. The blond was thrilled to see that his best friend was showcasing his exceptional football skills in such an intense game. He might have even been playing a better quarterback game than Steve. College scouts would definitely be hounding Bucky after the game. They would if they had any common sense, anyway.

"Hey Cap, if you're not too distracted by your boyfriend, the guys are wondering which play you wanted to run." Clint commented with a smirk.

Steve's face reddened as he returned his focus to his mouthy wide receiver. "What? Why are you worried about the defense? Shouldn't you be getting your shoulder looked at?" He responded quickly, his eyes narrowing as he studied the ice pack resting on his friend's shoulder.

Clint shrugged dismissively. "You know I'll be fine. I've had worse in my sparring classes. I've had worse on my dates. Uh, Thor was asking Sam, who asked me to relay the message. Apparently he's gone through every play in the book."

Steve's eyebrows furrowed as his eyes swept the sidelines. Bucky was smart; he would recognize any play that they'd already run. Steve wanted to see Bucky succeed, but he wanted to challenge him. His crystal eyes suddenly fell upon a lanky figure sprawled across one of the sideline benches.

"What about Thor's brother? He wrote half the plays in the book. Ask if he's got anything else off the top of his head. If he doesn't, just run the Red Scare play. They might recognize it, but by the time they do, they'll be scrambling to get the ball to the left of the field."

Clint quirked an eyebrow at the captain. "Are you sure about that, Steve? That kid can be pretty ruthless when it comes to strategy."

Steve continued to watch Loki. The boy turned and met Steve's stare with a smirk, as if he knew exactly what the two boys were discussing several feet away.

"Get him to run it by Thor. I trust his judgement. If Thor feels comfortable playing it, then it's fine by me. Now go; we're going to get penalized if this delay lasts much longer." Steve barked.

Clint rolled his eyes but quickly strode to Loki's side, explaining the situation and handing him a microphone that would allow him to speak to Thor from the sidelines.

Steve watched as Loki analyzed the players on the field, speaking slowly, as though he were playing a game of chess or planning some military strategy. The kid was good. He was creepy, patronizing, and almost always disrespectful, but damn if he didn't know how to create flawless strategies.

Without any sign of delay, the defense immediately began to organize themselves. Steve nodded towards Loki and Clint. Thor had accepted the play. Good. That was good, right?

As Steve began to wonder just what Loki had told his older brother to do, the whistle blew and the players began to move.

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion for Steve.

Thor dove over two of the players guarding Bucky and immediately tackled the dark-haired boy to the ground.

Ouch. That didn't look good.

Wait.

No.

Bucky wasn't moving.

Why wasn't Bucky moving?

Thor hadn't hit him that hard, had he?

The other players were taking a knee.

No, no, no, no,  _no_.

Steve immediately rushed onto the field, ignoring the objections and scolding that the coaches from the other team were casting his way. The paramedics were setting up a stretcher. Why had Thor accepted this play? Why had Steve trusted Loki to come up with an ethical play without being there to tell him when he was taking things too far?

"Bucky. C'mon, Buck, you need to get up." The blond pleaded, plopping down at his best friend's side, scanning his face for an indication that he was even slightly conscious.

No dice.

The paramedics put Bucky on the stretcher and mentioned something about taking him to the hospital for a cat scan.

Mrs. Barnes was offering to take Steve to the hospital with her. When had Mrs. Barnes come onto the field?

Steve suddenly found himself sitting in a white-walled waiting room, absently watching children dance and giggle around the massive fish tank on the opposite wall.

"Steve, honey, you need to eat." Mrs. Barnes was saying, shoving a bag of fast food in Steve's direction.

He stared down at the food blankly. He hadn't eaten since having dinner before the football game. He glanced at the clock. Had it really been five hours since he had suited up? His stomach was informing him that he was not hungry, but his brain was reminding him that under any other circumstances, he would have been devouring the contents of the greasy bag and then searching for more food.

"Thanks, Mrs. Barnes, but I'm really not hungry right now. Maybe I'll go down to the cafeteria a little later. Do you, uh, do you know when we'll get to see him?"

Mrs. Barnes shook her head, following Steve's gaze to the door where Bucky had been rushed to intensive care. "The last thing the doctors told me was that he was going to need some time after waking up. They're trying to make sure he hasn't permanently damaged anything."

That was news. When had Mrs. Barnes talked to the doctors again?

After a few minutes - or, hell, maybe it was a few hours - Mrs. Barnes turned to Steve, who was still clutching the fast food bag, despite the fact that the contents had undoubtedly gone cold by this point, and rested a hand on his back. "Honey, are you going to get in trouble with your school? I remember Bucky saying something about a curfew."

Steve shook his head impassionately. "There's an exception for family emergencies."

Mrs. Barnes nodded slowly, watching the boy as he gazed at the aquarium, his expression smooth and unreadable, as though there wasn't a single thought running through his mind. Deciding that it was best not to push the boy, she made an excuse to stand up and approach one of the nearby nurses once more. Steve hardly noticed her absence.

It felt like an eternity before Steve was finally cleared to see Bucky. The doctors had protested as he darted in after Mrs. Barnes had had her own private visit. Mrs. Barnes had warded the concerned doctors and nurses off by insisting that Steve was family; Bucky's brother, to be exact.

Steve exhaled heavily at the sight of his best friend lying in the hospital bed, numerous tubes and casts attached to every inch of his body. It felt as though he had been punched in the gut. How could he have allowed one of his own teammates to do this to his best friend? Had he really cared about winning that much?

"Buck?" He whispered, perching on the side of Bucky's bed, waiting for the dark-haired boy to open his eyes.

The doctors had said that he was awake, hadn't they?

"Who's Buck?" Bucky asked in a small voice, his eyes remaining closed.

"What? Buck, I - "

Bucky's eyes snapped open. He looked livid. Why did he look so upset? Did he blame Steve for what had happened to him on the field? Steve blamed himself. He opened his mouth to apologize, but was immediately cut off.

"Who the hell is Buck?" Bucky demanded through gritted teeth.

Steve quirked an eyebrow, his own eyes widening as he studied his best friend's enraged expression. He had never seen Bucky so angry before. This wasn't a joke, nor was this a momentary lapse in memory. He really didn't remember his own nickname. Steve couldn't hide his horrified expression.

Noticing the look on the blond's face, Bucky's bottom lip quivered slightly.

"You are," Steve explained, continuing to watch Bucky with an alarmed expression, "don't you remember your own name? Are you...I mean, do you remember anything?"

Bucky continued to stare back at Steve, looking devastatingly similar to a little boy who had gotten lost after separating from a parent.

"I know you." He finally muttered in a small voice, continuing to stare at Steve as though he were a walking puzzle.

Steve forced himself to smile. "Of course you do, buddy. You're my best friend." He tried to maintain a cheerful tone despite the lump forming in his throat. Why did Bucky have to look at him that way? No one should have to see their childhood friend in such a pitiful state.

The doctor entered the room as Bucky stared at Steve, still not completely sure of who he was talking to. Steve turned to meet the doctor's gaze pleadingly, desperate for information on how to restore Bucky to his former state of mind.

"That's enough visiting for the evening, son. Mr. Barnes needs some rest." The doctor stated, casting a stern look in Steve's direction.

"Can I visit him tomorrow? Or, er, later today?" The blond inquired, glancing back at Bucky before returning his focus to the doctor.

The doctor sighed. "We'll discuss that with Mrs. Barnes outside. For now, let's let James have some peace and quiet."

Steve hung his head, sliding off of Bucky's bed and trudging towards the door under the strict supervision of the doctor.

"Hey, wait," Bucky objected. Steve turned around hopefully, only to be forcefully propelled towards the door once more by an impatient doctor.

"Wait," Bucky persisted, his voice still audible through the heavy hospital door, "Wait, I know him. I  _know_  him!"

Steve gritted his teeth but continued walking. He would have to follow the doctor's orders, for the time being. They knew what was best for Bucky. After what had happened on the football field, Steve wasn't so sure that he could say the same about himself.

"Oh, honey," Mrs. Barnes crooned the moment she saw Steve, pulling him into a warm hug. "Did you talk to him? Did he say anything?"

"He didn't remember anything. Does he...I mean, you know…" Steve mumbled, casting a glance in the direction of Bucky's room.

"Right now, the doctors say he's exhibiting signs of amnesia. They're not sure how long it's going to last. It might be temporary. We'll know more about it when they get the CAT scan results back." Mrs. Barnes explained softly.

Steve's shoulders slumped. He nodded his head but didn't say a word. What could he say? His best friend didn't remember a thing because Steve had been too lazy to come up with an ethical play for Thor.

He returned to his seat, gazing at the aquarium thoughtfully.

Mrs. Barnes didn't disturb him; she knew it wouldn't have done the boy an ounce of good.

Steve was almost grateful when she declared that she would be going home to take a shower and brush her teeth. He didn't know if he could stand her sympathetic looks and reassuring remarks much longer. He just wanted to be alone.

He stared straight ahead of him for an indeterminate amount of time, allowing his mind to create worst-case scenarios involving Bucky. He didn't look up as he heard the heavy waiting room door open and close loudly, nor did he so much as blink when he heard a familiar voice speaking to a nurse in a venomous tone.

Seconds later, a large brown bag was shoved onto his lap.

"I'm not hungry, Nat." Steve muttered.

"I don't care whether or not you're hungry. I snuck out past curfew, rode on a bus full of drunks and hookers, walked around this terrible town at two in the morning in order to pick up each and every one of your favorite foods, and lied to my boyfriend and your girlfriend in order to get here without being ripped to pieces. You are eating." Natasha countered, her eyes narrowing.

Steve turned to look at the redhead and couldn't resist cracking a smile. "Did you get apple pie?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Of course that's the part you're concerned with. Yes, I got apple pie. What, do you think I just met you yesterday?"

The blond smiled and made a noncommittal noise before digging into the large bag and extracting a container of mac and cheese. Natasha really had gone out of her way in order to recover his favorites. He lowered his eyes slightly. He didn't deserve to be treated this well, not right now.

"Steve. Eat. Bucky is going to be okay." Natasha reminded him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Steve shook his head, forcing himself to meet his friend's eyes. "You don't know that."

"Yes I do," Natasha answered easily, "I know that everything is going to be okay, and I know that if you don't eat the food that I nearly got mugged over, I will break both of your arms."

Steve sighed before opening the container of mac and cheese and taking a few reluctant bites. He knew better than to argue with Natasha, especially when she thought that she knew what was best. She watched him with a satisfied smile.

Once he had finished the container, he went straight for the apple pie, ignoring the rest of the food for the time being. Natasha smiled and smoothed down Steve's hair, which had gotten messed up at some point during the stressful night.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked gently.

Steve shrugged and wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand. "He doesn't even remember his own name."

He hadn't meant to disclose that information. He had meant to convince Natasha that he was fine, to brush off her concern in the most polite way possible. He should have known that she would extract the information from him one way or another.

"Have you talked to him?" Natasha questioned, glancing in the direction of Bucky's room.

Steve nodded grimly. "He had no idea who I was. He looked so lost. It's all my fault, Nat. I was the one who told Loki to make the play. I shouldn't have trusted him, I shouldn't have -"

"Shut up."

Steve looked at the redhead in surprise. "Huh?"

"Did you have any reason to believe that Bucky couldn't handle anything that you threw at him?" Natasha asked, removing her hand from Steve's hair and staring at him inquisitively, "Did you think that he was some kind of china doll who would break if you started to challenge him a little bit?"

Steve shook his head, staring at his shoes. "No, but -"

"Shut up, Rogers. I'm trying to cheer you up and you are going to let me. You let him have his dignity. You treated him like you would have treated any other quarterback; that was what Bucky wanted and you know it. Loki took advantage of the position that you were put in. This is entirely his doing." Natasha asserted.

"I should have known that Loki would do something like this. I didn't even listen to the play. I told him that if Thor was okay with it, I was okay with it."

"What's wrong with trusting your teammate?" Natasha persisted.

Steve stared at her incredulously before gesturing around the waiting room emphatically. " _This_. This is exactly what's wrong with trusting my teammate! This is the textbook definition of what is wrong with trusting my teammate." He responded angrily.

Natasha stared at him for a moment before cracking a smile. "Steve, why don't we go back to S.H.I.E.L.D.? You always get dramatic when you're tired."

"I'm not leaving," Steve responded stubbornly, "Bucky wouldn't leave me, and I'm not leaving him."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "If you're not going to leave your boyfriend, then at least take a nap here. Come on, I'll make sure that no one steals your food or your helmet."

"You're going to get in trouble if you stay here. Mr. Fury is taking attendance at the assembly tomorrow." Steve reminded the redhead.

She shrugged. "So I won't be there. Someone has to stay and take care of you."

"I don't need anyone to take care of me." Steve mumbled.

"Yes you do. Now go to sleep."

"I'm not tired." The blond argued.

"I'm not negotiating." Natasha responded.

Steve groaned and rested his head against the wall behind him. He glanced at Natasha and couldn't resist smiling when he saw the satisfied smirk on her face. Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed to think that she was a terrifying force who could destroy anyone who crossed her path - and she was - but she was much more than a dangerous element. She was also an almost excessively dedicated friend.

"Close your eyes." Natasha instructed, electing to ignore the smile that she was receiving from her best friend.

"I'm not tired." Steve grumbled, reluctantly obliging and closing his eyes.

"Then just sit there with your eyes closed." Natasha replied with a smirk.

"Hm." Steve murmured.

* * *

"You know that she's with him, don't you?" Sam remarked, tossing a football across his dorm room in Clint's direction.

"Yeah, I know," Clint sighed, catching the football and launching it towards Rhodey, "I didn't really think that she was suddenly interested in having a girls night with Peggy Carter."

Sam raised an eyebrow at his teammate. "Why didn't you say something?"

Clint shrugged. "I don't know, what am I supposed to say? Steve is her best friend, she should be with him right now. If I try to talk to her about lying, she'll just lie more. It's easier to just let this one go."

"What if they fall in love?" Sam challenged with a hint of a smile.

Clint and Rhodey both glared at their smiling teammate.

"They're not going to fall in love." Rhodey responded matter-of-factly.

"Probably not; Steve has no game," Sam agreed with a laugh, "but let's say that he pulls a miracle and Tasha decides that she can't live without him. What are you going to do?"

Clint shook his head with a scowl. "I wouldn't do anything. You know what, we're not doing this, Wilson. I trust Natasha and Steve. If they were going to fall in love, they would have done it at some point in the past three years. I'd be more worried about leaving Steve alone with an apple pie. What about you, anyway? Too worried about my love life to focus on your own?"

"I was thinking about talking to Darcy Lewis." Sam answered quickly, looking thoroughly insulted at the very idea that his love life did not exist.

Rhodey and Clint both burst out into laughter. Neither of them had seen Sam so much as greet Darcy in the hallways. The boys tormented each other ceaselessly. It was ridiculous for Sam to think that either Clint or Rhodey would let his ridiculous statement pass without any teasing.

" _Darcy Lewis_? Does she even know that you exist?" Rhodey asked, shaking his head as he laughed.

"Yes, she knows that I exist," Sam shot back in an annoyed tone, "she thinks that I am the finest single man in this school. She thinks that you both are dicks."

Clint glanced at Rhodey and shrugged. "I believe the second part."

"She is into me, I'm telling you!" Sam insisted.

"I thought that you were going to talk to that foreign transfer, Peter. What happened, did you strike out there, too?" Rhodey commented, leaning back and staring at Sam appraisingly.

Sam shrugged. "Apparently he has a girlfriend back home, wherever that is. That normally wouldn't bother me, but he's also sort of a weird dude. He always carries that 8-track player around and talks to trees. So, Darcy Lewis it is."

"Peter dodged a bullet." Rhodey laughed, shaking his head and leaning against the wall.

Sam grinned. "Hey, it worked out to Darcy's advantage."

"Is that so? Does she know that she's got that advantage yet?" Clint challenged, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course she does." Sam responded quickly.

Clint grinned and snatched his phone off of his desk. "Let's find out; I'll text her and let her know that she is being courted by our own Sam Wilson."

He typed the passcode into his phone to unlock his home screen while Rhodey attempted to hold back Sam. Sam struggled against Rhodey's grip, trying to launch himself at Clint to prevent the text from being sent. Clint chuckled, ignoring Sam's objections and arguments as he scrolled through his phone.

Suddenly, the smile faded from his face.

"Uh oh," He murmured, staring down at his phone.

"What's the matter? Steve and Tasha running off to elope?" Sam taunted from across the room, an amused grin sliding across his face as Rhodey released him.

"No, uh, Peggy just texted me and asked if Steve was still at the hospital."

"So?" Rhodey questioned.

Clint sighed and rested his head against his forehead. "So, Peggy is about to go visit Steve and Nat in the hospital."

Sam and Rhodey stared at each other in confusion.

"I don't get it. Why is that such a bad thing?" Rhodey inquired.

"Well," Clint responded with yet another sigh, "I'm taking a stab in the dark here and assuming that Peggy has no idea that Nat is there with him. Not sure she's going to be entirely thrilled."

* * *

Natasha was flipping through her copy of Beowulf - the latest English assignment - when a heavy weight fell on her shoulder. She looked over and smiled when she saw that during the course of his waiting-room slumber, Steve's head had fallen on her shoulder.

If this had been anyone else, she would have been extremely annoyed. She disliked people invading her space, but Steve was an entirely different story. She had had a soft spot for the boy ever since she had seen the look of terror on his face when she pulled him away from the girls' bathroom. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Natasha knew that she didn't need to protect Steve anymore - he was almost eighteen years old, a legal adult - but it was much easier for her to pretend that she clung to the football player for his sake. That way, she didn't have to admit that she needed him just as much, if not more, than he needed her. They were a family. A strange, dysfunctional, not-quite-blood-related family.

At the sound of the waiting room opening and closing, Natasha looked up from the blond hair tickling her nose, fully expecting to see Mrs. Barnes wearing that knowing smile that she always sported around the assassin-in-training and her best friend. Instead, however, she was faced with the sight of an outraged Peggy Carter.

Natasha immediately placed a finger over her lips. She understood that she and Peggy were about to have an argument, but that was no excuse to wake Steve up. The boy had been through enough with Bucky. He didn't need to be woken up to a jealous girlfriend as well.

She gestured towards the door, indicating that she would meet Peggy outside to continue their argument. Peggy folded her arms across her chest, clearly not enjoying the prospect of being treated like an imposition. Natasha ignored the irritated girl and glanced at Steve, wondering just how she was going to get his head off of her shoulder without disturbing him.

She shifted her shoulder so that Steve's neck was bent in an extremely uncomfortable way, hoping that he would move on his own accord. Steve groaned in complaint, but shifted his head so that it was propped up against the wall behind him and resumed his relatively peaceful sleep.

Once she could move without waking her best friend, Natasha slid out of her chair and proceeded to exit the waiting room with Peggy at her heels. As the door shut behind them, Peggy folded her arms across her chest and arched an expectant eyebrow at Natasha.

"Was there any reason to lie to me about having a girls night with some of your S.H.I.E.L.D. friends, or are you just used to it at this point?" The brunette demanded angrily, unable to help feeling hurt and betrayed.

Peggy had watched Steve and Natasha interact for weeks now and was desperately trying to understand their friendship. Steve clearly thought that Natasha was attractive; he had practically been  _drooling_  at the homecoming dance - something that Peggy had elected to ignore on the off-chance that she had been mistaken. This was more than a petty attraction, however. The pair was nearly inseparable. Not even Natasha's boyfriend could drag her from Steve's side for longer than an hour or two. Steve was painfully similar; if Peggy  _did_  manage to convince him to leave Natasha's side for the evening, he would be glued to his phone, as though he expected her to desperately need his help after being separated for a whopping twenty minutes.

Natasha glared back at Peggy. "If I had been honest and told you that I was going to be here, would you have let Steve go without any kind of argument or warning? I'm not trying to trick you or break up your relationship, contrary to what you might think. I was just trying to do what's best for Steve."

"You're  _always_  trying to do what's best for Steve. Don't you think that he can decide what's best for himself? This isn't normal, you know. You can't just dictate every aspect of his life. It isn't fair to him, it isn't fair to me. I don't want to sit around and worry that you're going to suddenly decide that I'm not what's best for my own boyfriend." Peggy objected immediately.

"I'm not dictating every aspect of his life, I'm  _helping_. If I hadn't been here, he wouldn't have eaten, he wouldn't have slept, and he probably would have been thinking of new ways to sneak into Bucky's room. I don't see you doing any of that." Natasha bit back, refusing to allow Peggy Carter to berate her for her friendship.

Peggy shook her head in frustration. "I had to wait until my parents fell asleep to sneak out of the house. We can't all go to S.H.I.E.L.D., where the only thing we have to worry about is the occasional detention. I know that you think that you're better for him, Natasha, I really get that, but I'm trying. I am trying so hard to be there for Steve, and you have got to take a few steps back and let me show him that. I can't keep doing this; showing up only to see that you've already taken care of him. No one could possibly stay in a relationship like this. Something has to change. It just has to."

"Steve is the only family I have," Natasha murmured, her heart sinking at the prospect of losing Steve, "when I came to S.H.I.E.L.D., I didn't have anybody. Neither did Steve, not really. He had Bucky back in town, but he was this gangly, awkward, friendless creature at school. I caught him struggling to read the different bathroom signs - we have all kinds of creatures at S.H.I.E.L.D. - and stopped him from walking into the girls' bathroom. After that, we sort of adopted each other. He's like my security blanket and I'm like his. This is the only way we've managed to survive the past three years."

"I know that, Tasha," Peggy allowed in a soft voice, "but this isn't your freshman year anymore. Neither of you are alone; I think you both have more friends than I could even name, and more importantly, you have Clint, and Steve has me. I'm not saying that you should stop being friends. I just think it might be best for everyone if you sort of relaxed a little."

Natasha bristled. She had been taking a major risk in telling Peggy exactly how she felt about Steve. She  _hated_  telling people how she felt about Steve. If she had learned anything in her classes - as well as her life - it was that identifying one's own point of weakness was a dangerous move. She had explicitly stated that Steve was all that she had in an effort to avoid losing him, and Peggy had simply brushed her off. The posh British girl was asking her to give him up anyway.

"I don't think you get to decide what's best." The redhead snapped.

Peggy's eyes narrowed. "And you do?"

"Seeing as I've known Steve for longer than a month, I would say so. Why don't you just go home? I'll tell him that you stopped by. I'm sure he'll appreciate the thought." Natasha responded coolly.

"Why don't you go home? I think you've probably sat with him long enough. It's my turn." Peggy shot back.

The girls continued to bicker for a number of minutes, their voices escalating as they got angrier with one another. Natasha could not believe that Steve's girlfriend could be so insensitive. She had expected him to date someone that was even kinder than he was; perhaps a Disney princess. Peggy could not believe that Natasha felt entitled to control Steve's life regardless of what he wanted. The redhead was acting utterly absurd.

As they approached screaming volume without making any progress, Natasha finally shook her head and stopped talking. Peggy quirked an eyebrow at her, but remained silent.

"We can't do this right now. We both care about Steve, and right now, he's hurting. He needs us;  _both_  of us. Let's just get in there and try to help him through this. You don't have to like me - I definitely don't like you - but we have got to at least pretend to get along for Steve's sake." Natasha decided, glancing back at the waiting room door.

Peggy looked unsure for a moment. She was reluctant to go along with anything Natasha decided on principle, but this particular statement did make sense. Steve's best friend was in the hospital; he did not deserve the added burden of sorting out an argument between Natasha and Peggy. The brunette nodded slowly.

"Fine," She muttered at length, "but only for Steve. Come on; he's probably going to wake up soon."

"Probably not. Steve sleeps like a hibernating bear." Natasha shrugged as they walked towards the waiting room doors once again.

Peggy turned to look at Natasha severely. The very last thing that she wanted to hear was the redhead's extended knowledge on Steve's sleeping habits, especially when they were supposed to be pretending to get along.

Natasha winced and nodded at the look. "Sorry."

The girls exchanged a quick look of understanding before returning to the waiting room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Before anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. could cause any more trouble, winter break had rolled around the corner. The dorms were quickly emptied out as students rushed to catch their cars, their trains, or their flights, each of them eager to escape the school and the work that came along with attending the school.

Unsurprisingly, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were the first to flee the campus. Tony had gotten his parents to write a note excusing him from his last classes of the day and had somehow managed to convince Fury to allow Pepper to leave with pair dashed to the parking lot and leapt into the car that Tony's parents had sent before any of the school's administrators could change their minds.

As the car started towards the airport, Pepper relaxed against the leather seat, avoiding Tony's eyes at all costs. She could hardly believe that she had agreed to spend her entire winter break with the same boy that had once called her at three in the morning to contemplate the possible existence of a cat-dog. She had a feeling that she would be spending the whole of the vacation chasing after Tony and attempting to keep each of the girlfriends that he accumulated from meeting one another - something she was not particularly interested in doing after realizing that she might have developed feelings for the ridiculous genius. Pepper had a feeling that the upcoming month and a half was going to feel like a much longer period of time.

"So, what's on the itinerary first, Potts? Did you want to go to the beach? Get something to eat? Visit a few shops? My parents will probably be at a conference when we get to the hotel, so it's your call." Tony stated after a few moments of silence, grinning at Pepper expectantly.

Pepper could feel her face reddening. She had been hoping that she would be able to hang out with Tony without acting weird ever since discovering her crush on the genius under the bleachers at the S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. Jefferson football game. Unfortunately, she had been sadly mistaken. She was always blushing and struggling to come up with the witty comebacks that had come second-nature to her before the complication of infatuation had entered her life.

"It's your vacation, shouldn't you choose?" She questioned, looking out the window in order to avoid Tony's bright smile.

He shrugged, not seeming to notice his friend's strange behavior. "I've been to the Bahamas a bunch of times; it's nothing new to me. If you let me choose, we're probably just going to sit in the hotel and build things out of parts from the mini-fridge and the lamps."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Why don't we get cleaned up, maybe take a nap if we're tired from the flight, and then look around for a little bit? I've never been to the Bahamas, but I've heard it's beautiful."

"Pepper Potts," Tony gasped in a forced scandalized tone, an amused grin crossing his face as he held a hand over his heart, "are you suggesting that we nap together before exploring a tropic island? We are on vacation with my parents. What kind of guy do you think I am?"

Pepper's eyes narrowed. "I don't know if you want me to answer that question."

The driver chuckled from the driver's seat while Tony grinned in amusement. He did not mind Pepper's good-natured ribbing. If she truly disliked him as much as she pretended to, there was no way that she would have agreed to spend a month and a half with him, not even for a free trip to the Bahamas.

"Alright; so, nap and then exploring? That sounds like a decent enough plan." Tony nodded to himself thoughtfully, "You could always nap on the plane, you know. First class seats are pretty comfortable, especially when you've got yours truly sitting next to you. You could always use my shoulder as a pillow if you needed to."

"Ugh, Tony," Pepper complained, pretending to be revolted at the very idea, "I don't sleep well on planes. Even if I did, I think it would be incredibly inappropriate to put my head anywhere near your shoulders. As I recall, you have a handful of girlfriends just waiting for you back in the city."

"And you don't have a boyfriend waiting for you. Why is that, anyway? Why didn't things work out with Rock of Ages? You seemed very comfortable at homecoming. I'm sure Jane would have invited you to spend Christmas with the Odinsons if you had asked." Tony commented, raising his eyebrows at the strawberry blonde sitting next to him.

Tony knew exactly what had happened between Pepper and Loki; Loki had hardly left his side since the night of the homecoming dance. He just wanted to hear Pepper talk about it.

Pepper's eyes narrowed. "I don't have to have a boyfriend waiting for me in the city. I'm perfectly happy being single. You give me enough trouble as it is. Who in their right mind would throw yet another teenage boy into the mix?"

"Not Pepper Potts, apparently." Tony laughed, shaking his head.

"Exactly." Pepper agreed triumphantly.

* * *

"Thor, what are you doing?" Jane asked in an exasperated tone as she walked into the room that would be Thor's room for the next month and a half.

The demi-god was crouching on his dresser, appearing to be gearing up to leap across the room to land on his bed. Loki and Darcy were sitting on the floor, backs against the wall, watching Thor with matching amused smirks.

Thor turned to look at Jane with a sheepish smile. "Darcy Lewis did not believe that I could leap from this wooden box to the bed, despite Loki's efforts at assurance. I meant to prove it to her."

"Okay, why don't you get down from there?" Jane sighed, placing a hand on Thor's muscular arm as he climbed down from his perch, "Shame on both of you for putting him up to this. He could have broken everything in the room if he fell. Thor, why don't you help me with some of my homework? Professor Ronan gave me an assignment on the speculation of the most perfect human form. You've experienced more cultures than I have; you might be able to make a few suggestions."

Thor nodded with a smile. "I would enjoy nothing more than assisting you in your academic endeavors."

"I still don't know why you took Ronan," Darcy muttered, standing up and brushing off her pants, "he's batshit crazy. He and Prof Schmidt are Nazis."

"Is that so? I believe I have Professor Schmidt for the history of magic this upcoming semester. Will he promote his genocidal ideals throughout the course?" Loki responded, quirking an eyebrow.

Jane rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "No one is a Nazi, Darcy. No one is going to be talking about genocide in any class, Loki. Professor Ronan is just interested in bioengineering and Professor Schmidt is just sort of...eccentric. Um, anyway, Thor, why don't we work on the assignment in the kitchen. I think these two might want to be alone anyway."

Jane winked at Darcy, knowing that it would make both her best friend and Loki totally uncomfortable, before guiding Thor out of the room. Thor beamed at Loki, clearly catching the innuendo in his girlfriend's voice.

Darcy rolled her eyes while Loki glowered at his retreating brother.

"I would not court a Midgardian if my return to Asgard required it." The lanky boy sneered.

Darcy's nose wrinkled in disgust. "I wouldn't date you if the world depended on it. I think I'd rather date Professor Ronan. He might be genocidal, but at least he has some seriously broad shoulders."

Loki looked thoroughly insulted. "My shoulders are quite broad. They are the shoulders of a prince."

"They're the shoulders of an awkward teenager boy." Darcy snorted.

"Bring me a mirror," Loki demanded immediately, "I must have shape-shifted during the course of this conversation. It is the only possible explanation for your opinion of my shoulders."

"They're short little shoulders. You have no shoulder game." Darcy taunted, realizing with amusement that despite his calm, cool exterior, Loki was just as vain and ridiculous as the rest of the boys at S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I am the victor of the shoulder game." Loki insisted emphatically, crossing the room in order to stand in front of a mirror.

Darcy bit back a smirk and followed him over to the mirror. "You know, I think that Thor might be able to give Ronan a run for his money when it comes to shoulders. Thor has some seriously broad shoulders."

The lanky demi-god turned around, eyes ablaze and mouth hanging ajar. He was outraged, plain and simple. He had lived the majority of his life on Asgard, where only Odin and Frigga were permitted to point out his shortcomings. Even then, they had never drawn attention to any physical shortcomings he might have. They certainly had not mentioned anything about his shoulders.

" _Thor_  is not the champion of the shoulder game." He asserted in an uncertain tone.

Darcy shrugged with a small smile. "In my opinion, he's pretty close to winning."

Loki glared at Darcy for a moment before storming out of the room. Not wanting to miss a moment of the demi-god's ridiculously vain behavior, Darcy followed at his heels, unable to help letting out a laugh or two as she did so. Loki didn't seem to notice her amusement.

"Brother," The lanky boy growled, stomping into the kitchen where Thor was explaining the various kinds of people he had met across the realms to an awe-struck Jane, "you must remove your shirt immediately. I am to be the sole winner of the shoulder game."

"Is this a Midgardian game? You must explain the rules so I may play as successfully as you." Thor answered immediately, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of a more interesting activity than helping Jane with her project.

"Darcy, did you come up with a game just to get them to take their shirts off?" Jane demanded in an unsurprised, yet frustrated tone.

Darcy bit her lip to keep from laughing and shook her head. "All I said was that Prof Ronan has pretty serious shoulder game and Loki made it a competition."

"You said that Thor stood a better chance at victory than I did." Loki snarled.

The brunette made eye contact with Jane and smiled sheepishly. "I mean, he  _does_."

Jane held up her hand, momentarily silencing Darcy's amused comments, Thor's questions, and Loki's outraged objections. She knew the silence wouldn't last long and used the opportunity to think about what she wanted to say first. Clearly she had comments for each and every one of her temporary roommates, but one in particular was more important than the others.

"Darcy, have you really been checking out Professor Ronan's shoulders?" She asked incredulously.

Darcy rolled her eyes with a slight smile. "He's a hottie with a body."

"He's  _blue_." Jane responded in disbelief.

Loki afforded his brother's girlfriend a sharp glare. "Have you a quarrel with that particular color?"

Jane looked at each of her guests, shifting uncomfortably as she did so. "No, I um, I don't have a problem with...um, hey, have you guys ever heard of Monopoly?"

* * *

"So, what were you thinking about ordering, Buck?" Steve asked in the most casual tone he could muster, setting down the menu that he hadn't actually read in years in order to smile at Bucky.

The dark-haired boy stared down at his menu with furrowed eyebrows. "Uh, the honey mustard chicken sandwich looks pretty good."

Steve's eyebrows shot up before he could think to regulate his facial expressions. Bucky noticed.

"That's wrong, isn't it?" He mumbled, his eyes dropping down to the menu in disappointment.

Steve forced himself to smile. "It's not  _wrong_ , Buck, I just didn't know that you liked mustard."

Bucky nodded to himself and continued to stare at the menu, clearly exerting a sizable amount of effort into selecting the correct meal. While his best friend was distracted, Steve allowed his mind to wander.

It had been weeks since Bucky had been released from the hospital and his memory still hadn't come back. He was picking up old habits with some effort - although neither Steve nor Mrs. Barnes felt particularly obligated to remind him of his habit of swearing like a sailor - but he still struggled with simple things, like ordering his favorite meal in the diner that he and Steve had gone to since they were kids.

"Maybe I'll have spaghetti," Bucky ventured timidly, his eyes flicking up to meet Steve's hesitantly.

Steve nodded, a strained smile crossing his face. "Yeah, their spaghetti is pretty good. You know what else is good here?"

Bucky looked up eagerly. "What?"

"Their buffalo chicken pizza." Steve replied, hoping that hearing the name of his favorite food would cause Bucky to remember something.

Instead, the dark-haired boy arched an eyebrow and curled his lip.

"Really?" He questioned dubiously.

Steve nodded enthusiastically, but carefully avoiding coercing Bucky into rediscovering his favorite food. "Yeah; I think that I'm going to order one. You go ahead and get the spaghetti. You can just try some of my pizza. That way, if you don't like it, you're not stuck with it."

Bucky nodded hesitantly.

"Alright, I guess I'll go put our orders in. Want anything to drink?" Steve asked, collecting the menus on the table and sliding out of his seat.

"Water?" Bucky responded uncertainly.

Steve smiled and nodded. At least Bucky still drank water like a man straight out of the desert. He approached the counter, grinning at Daisy, a waitress who had worked at the diner since he and Bucky were ten.

"Hello there, Mr. Rogers. The usual order?" Daisy questioned as soon as the blond approached the counter.

Steve glanced over his shoulder at where Bucky was frowning at his phone before turning to face Daisy once more and shaking his head.

"Actually, the order's a bit different this time," He replied, scratching the back of his head nervously, "can we get an order of spaghetti and a large buffalo chicken pizza, with two waters?"

Daisy afforded him a strange look, but wrote down the order all the same. "That will be twenty thirty-seven."

"Great, thanks," Steve smiled, pulling out his wallet and surrendering three ten dollar bills, "keep the change."

He returned to the table, hoping that Bucky hadn't decided to text random numbers in his phone once again. The last time he had done that, he had inadvertently texted his cousin, thinking that she was instead one of the girls that he had taken on a date throughout the course of his romantic career. While Steve couldn't resist laughing, the mess that Bucky created had made for a rather uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner.

Luckily, Bucky had learned from his mistakes and had decided against contacting anyone with an unfamiliar name. Once Steve returned to the table, the dark haired boy promptly began to question his best friend about each name on his contact list, hoping to learn more about his friends and family. Steve was happy to oblige, hoping that having such a conversation would jumpstart Bucky's memory.

They continued their conversation until their food arrived in Daisy's hands. The waitress smiled as she set the food down, assuming that Steve had ordered the spaghetti while Bucky had ordered the pizza, as he always had in the past.

It would have been a fair assumption under almost any other circumstances. Bucky's undying love for buffalo chicken pizza had been made known after he had tried his first slice back in the second grade. Once he had sampled the pizza, he had insisted that he and Steve go to the diner at least three times a week so he could feed his growing addiction. Steve, who had always been easily persuaded by his best friend, had happily obliged.

His passion for buffalo chicken pizza was not the only reason for Daisy's assumption, however. Bucky  _detested_  spaghetti; anyone who had been around him while there was pasta present knew this. His mother had forced him to eat a bowl of spaghetti shortly following the stomach flu when he was seven years old, and the result was to be expected. Ever since spending that fateful night on the bathroom floor, hunched over the phone and informing Steve that he would rather be dead, Bucky had vowed never to eat spaghetti again.

Steve waited until Daisy walked away before switching out their food, hoping to avoid any questions that the waitress would likely have. Bucky was already sensitive about the fact that others knew more about his life than he did. He didn't need to know that Daisy was included in that category.

As predicted, Bucky took one bite of the spaghetti before curling his upper lip in disgust and setting down his fork. He looked at Steve in utter indignation. Steve couldn't help but laugh in response.

"You knew that I didn't like spaghetti. Why didn't you stop me?" The dark-haired boy demanded.

Steve chuckled. "You've got to find some things out for yourself, Buck."

"Punk." Bucky murmured, swiping a piece of pizza off of Steve's plate.

"Jerk." Steve countered with a grin.

* * *

"Barton, what are you doing? We didn't come here to pet stray dogs." Natasha hissed, grabbing her boyfriend by the arm and dragging him away from the dog that he seemed to have befriended.

Clint rolled his eyes, affording the dog a small smile before looking at Natasha in complete exasperation. "What else am I supposed to do? Shadowing agents is boring. They've just been sitting around reading files for the past two days." He grumbled.

"Maybe they got the wrong information from D.C.," Natasha responded with a shrug, "anyway, they won't be reading files forever. We're obviously in the middle of Budapest for some reason. I don't want to miss something because you're busy petting every dog in the city."

"Relax; we're not missing anything. Look, I've got a baby monitor set up in the room. See? Oh." Clint stared down at his phone, his cheeks reddening.

Natasha rolled her eyes as she glanced at the blond's phone. The only thing visible on the screen was a piece of paper taped to the baby monitor reading ' **rookie move, Cliff** '.

"Cliff," Clint scoffed, stuffing his phone back in his pocket, "they know my name, they just want to act cool and pretend that they don't. C'mon, let's go make sure they don't leave without us."

Natasha nodded her agreement and started out for their hotel. After a few steps, she realized that her boyfriend was not following her.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was dripping with irritation.

Clint broke eye contact with the dog only long enough to afford his girlfriend a sheepish smile. "I think he wants to come with us."

"You're not smuggling a dog into the hotel." Natasha stated, folding her arms across her chest.

"Why not?" The blond objected immediately. "It's like a test. If we can sneak this dog into the hotel room, we're gonna be great agents, right? Besides, it would be cruel to leave him on the streets. You can practically see his ribs."

Natasha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If we get caught, I'm going to tell Kate and Rumlow that this was entirely your fault."

"It is entirely my fault," Clint shrugged with a grin. "I guess we'd better get going. Come on, Pizza."

"Pizza?" Natasha echoed, raising her eyebrows as Clint and the dog began walking towards the hotel.

"Problem?" Clint countered with a small smirk.

The redhead shook her head with an amused smile. "No, not at all. I think Pizza is an incredibly sophisticated name."

"Glad you approve." Clint chuckled, reaching down to pat his new friend's head as the trio wandered down the streets of Budapest.

* * *

Three nights before Christmas, Maria Hill sat in her house, curled up with her father's newest literary obsession and a mug of hot chocolate containing just a drop of peppermint schnapps, when there was suddenly a knock on her door.

Knowing that her parents were in the basement wrapping presents, Maria sighed and approached the door, hoping that it wasn't yet another crowd of untalented carolers. It was growing increasingly difficult to pretend that she appreciated their efforts.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Bruce Banner standing on her doorstep, face scrunched up in an effort to hold back tears, shirt tattered, and a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Bruce? What are you doing here?" She asked, unable to hide her surprise.

She and Bruce were not exactly close friends. She had seen him in passing, of course, and sat at the same lunch table as him due to mutual friends, but Maria could count the number of times that she had actually spoken to the mop-headed boy on one hand.

Bruce grimaced and dropped his stare to the ground. "I'm really sorry for showing up like this; I don't want to bother you, it's just that, no one else is home for the break and I can't get into the dorms until tomorrow."

"Right, yeah, please, come in. Is everything okay?" Maria asked, stepping aside to allow Bruce into her house. She was relatively sure that her parents wouldn't mind a guest.

Bruce stepped into the house, casting Maria a grateful look as he did so. He almost resembled a puppy. Whatever his reason for being here was, Maria was positive that it had been something bad.

"Uh, not really, no. I, uh, how much do they tell you in the office? Have you heard anything about me?" He asked, taking a seat on the couch that Maria had gestured to. Maria sat down in her own chair and wracked her mind for everything that she had heard about Bruce while working in the office.

"I don't hear very much about students; Mr. Coulson tries to avoid that. I think I've heard one of the secretaries talk about anger medication after you were mentioned once. Is that it?" Maria asked hesitantly, hoping that if Bruce did have anger issues, discussing them would not trigger any anger.

Bruce nodded, his eyes flicking up to meet Maria's hesitantly. "Uh, that's sort of it. I think it might be easier just to show you. Mr. Fury would probably destroy my phone if he knew that I had this video, but I like watching it sometimes. It reminds me what I'm capable of."

Maria nodded slowly, taking the phone from Bruce in order to watch the video that he had pulled up on the screen. To her surprise, it had nothing to do with the boy whatsoever. It was just a video of a giant green monster tearing apart a number of buildings. Maria assumed that it was a scene from a movie.

"Is this a joke?" She questioned, looking around for any sign of Tony Stark.

This seemed like the type of prank that the genius would concoct. The only unlikely factor was Bruce. The mop-headed boy rarely partook in his roommate's high-jinxes. He was much too afraid of Nick Fury.

Bruce smiled at Maria. It was a sad smile, one of understanding and sympathy.

"I'm sorry. I know that this is a lot to spring on you. I promise, I wouldn't be here if I had anywhere else to go. I just, uh, can I crash in your backyard for the night or something?" Bruce asked uncertainly.

Maria looked in the direction of her backyard before turning to look at Bruce with furrowed eyebrows. She stared at him for a moment, unsure of whether or not she had heard him correctly. She could not comprehend the concept of _anyone_  sleeping outside in the middle of a New York winter.

"You can't sleep outside, Bruce," She objected immediately, "it's way too cold out there. I think you would die within two hours. Just let me talk to my parents. I'm sure they'll understand."

Bruce's eyes shifted to the ground. "I wouldn't die."

"What do you mean?" Maria inquired.

"The other guy won't let me." Bruce answered, nodding towards the phone.

Maria stared at him blankly. She looked down at the video of the green giant then looked back up at Bruce in disbelief. She could not believe that Bruce had anything to do with the monster. The boy sitting before her was much too mild-mannered.

"Bruce, I don't…"

The mop-headed boy sighed and met Maria's eyes once more. "Just wait until the end of the video. You'll see."

Maria watched the video, still riddled with doubt. To her surprise, at the very end of the video, the giant staggered on its feet until it collapsed in the middle of the rubble it had created. Moments later, it shrank down into a boy; a boy that looked very similar to Bruce.

"What…?" Maria didn't know exactly what she wanted to ask.

Bruce took a deep breath. "I don't know what happened; something went wrong while I was working in a lab over the summer. We were trying to replicate this serum from the 30's, but I guess we did something wrong. Every time my blood pressure rises to a certain level, the big guy comes out."

"That's why Fury is so worried about your temper." Maria mused.

"I have it under control most of the time, but tonight I just…" He sighed, "I can't go back home. It isn't safe."

"Do your parents know about this?" Maria asked, glancing at the basement stairs and biting her lip, hoping that her own parents would not come up the stairs at this inopportune moment. She still had to think of a lie to explain why Bruce needed to stay over. She had the sneaking suspicion that her mother would not be too keen on the idea.

Bruce squirmed in his seat, looking thoroughly agitated. Maria couldn't help but worry that he was going to turn into the green monster in the video. Her parents would not be pleased if her sort-friend from school destroyed their house three days before Christmas.

"They can't know," He answered, sounding noticeably distressed, "They can't. My father he would...well, he already thinks that I'm different. He'd…" Bruce's shoulders slumped as he stared at the ground and took in big gulps of air. His entire body trembled. Maria sat up nervously.

"Okay, okay, I'll think of something to tell my parents. Why don't you go upstairs? My brother is off at college; you can sleep in his room for the night. You look like you could use some rest." Maria said hastily, leaping out of her chair and gesturing in the direction of the stairs.

Bruce looked around nervously. "Are you sure?"

Maria nodded, despite the fact that she was not even moderately sure. In reality, she was the very opposite of sure. She was very much _un_ sure. She was asking a boy that she barely knew - a boy who could apparently turn into a green monster at any given moment - to stay in her house for an indeterminable amount of time. She had no idea what she was going to tell her parents, nor did she have any idea how she was going to explain the situation to Pepper, Jane, and Darcy, who she would without a doubt text immediately after Bruce had left the room.

"Thank you." Bruce exhaled, radiating relief as he relaxed slightly.

Maria quickly showed Bruce to her older brother's vacant room, pointing out the bathroom on the off-chance that the boy wanted a shower, then left the mop-headed boy to his own devices. Judging from his behavior, he needed some time to relax and recover from whatever had happened to him prior to his arrival.

"Did I hear the doorbell?" Her mom mused as she wandered upstairs for a glass of water.

Maria felt her face redden as the sound of the shower starting filled the room. Her mom glanced in the direction of the bathroom before casting Maria an inquisitive stare.

"Is someone here?"

"Um, yeah," Maria replied, avoiding her mom's eyes as she searched the kitchen for some food that Bruce might appreciate, "my friend from school, Bruce, is here. He, um, he's just having a really tough time and I might have told him that he could stay here tonight."

This confession earned Maria a stern look from her mother. She knew that her mother would not particularly love the idea of a male classmate staying over, but it couldn't be helped. Bruce needed help and it seemed that Maria was the only one who could help him.

"Maria…"

"Mom, he's staying here. I think he's afraid of his parents, all of his friends are away for the break, and he looks like he's been through hell and back. He can stay in Beck's room; he won't cause any trouble and it would mean the world to him. It's the right thing to do." Maria asserted, taking on the voice that she used whenever Tony Stark was giving her any sort of trouble.

Her mom sighed and looked in the direction of the bathroom once more before letting out yet another sigh. "I think there are some spare clothes in Beck's room."

Maria smiled. "Thanks mom, I promise you won't regret this."

"I had better not. And clean your room; you don't want your classmates to know that you're a slob."

Maria rolled her eyes. "I'll work on it, mom."

* * *

"Merry Christmas, Potts!" Tony crowed, leaping onto Pepper's bed and jumping up and down.

Pepper - now shaken awake - rubbed her eyes and scowled at the dark-haired genius shaking the entire bed.

"Get off my bed," Pepper complained, swatting blindly in Tony's direction, "it's not even light outside. What time is it?"

Tony paused to look at the clock on the side table. "Uhhh, five. Come on, I just finished your present. You've got to open it. Besides, my parents aren't here to tell me to wait until nine-thirty. What's stopping us from opening all of our presents early?"

"Sleep." Pepper replied grumpily, rolling over to face the wall instead of the enthusiastic boy crouching next to her.

"You can sleep after presents." Tony whined.

Pepper groaned and rolled out of bed. She didn't bother worrying about her lack of makeup or her ill-fitting pajamas. It was five in the morning. No level of infatuation could have caused her to care about her appearance even a marginal amount.

Tony grinned and immediately dragged her in the direction of the common area. Pepper regarded the insane amount of Christmas decorations with a small smile, briefly contemplating Tony's passion for the winter holiday. Her attention was immediately diverted to a massive box sitting in the middle of the room.

Noticing Pepper's widening eyes, Tony grinned. "That one's yours."

"Please tell me that it's not another life-sized stuffed bear. I still haven't found a place to put the last one." Pepper teased as she approached the present.

Tony rolled his eyes. "You were supposed to put it in your room. Anyway, this is even better than a giant bear. Just open it."

"Mmm, I don't know. Maybe I should save the biggest present for last." Pepper reasoned, aiming a smirk in Tony's direction.

Tony huffed impatiently and moved to open the present for Pepper. She slapped his hand away and slowly tore the wrapping paper away, intentionally drawing out the process. Tony tapped his foot and made annoyed sounds from behind her, but Pepper paid little attention to it.

Once the present was fully unwrapped, Pepper cocked her head and stared at the robotic contraption sitting before her. Leave it to Tony Stark to build her the most complicated Christmas present in the universe.

"What is it?" She finally asked.

"What is it?" Tony echoed in disbelief, "It's an assistant. Look, it's voice activated. Just tell it to do something."

"Um…" Pepper looked down at the wrapping paper lying on the floor, "Pick up all of this paper?"

The robot immediately snapped into action and picked up the paper. Once it had accumulated all of the paper in its metallic arms, it turned its head in Pepper's direction.

"What would you like me to do with this paper, Miss Potts?" It inquired.

Pepper turned to look at Tony in surprise. "That's your voice."

"I know!" Tony agreed gleefully, "I thought it'd be a welcomed change. Y'know, instead of letting me boss you around, you can tell Tony Jr. what to do."

Pepper arched an eyebrow. "Tony Jr.?"

Tony shrugged and kicked the carpet bashfully. "Or whatever you want to call it."

"I think Tony Jr. should be just fine," Pepper smiled, observing the robot fondly. The idea that Tony had put so much thought and effort into her present instead of simply walking into a store and buying something expensive made her heart pound against her chest.

"You know, he should, uh, he should help you out, maybe get you some free time," Tony commented, watching Pepper carefully, "Maybe you'd even have enough free time to go out to dinner with me some time."

Pepper looked up at Tony in surprise. Her heart was now thumping and faltering almost painfully in her chest. She had no idea whether she ought to be coy or straightforward about her feelings towards the genius. She wasn't even positive that he wasn't joking. Besides all of that, there was still the matter of his numerous existing girlfriends.

Before any of this could be addressed, a heavy knock interrupted the almost-romantic moment. Tony scowled at the door in annoyance while Pepper shifted to hide behind her Christmas present, relieved that she had been granted thinking time.

Tony stomped over to the door, only to find Happy, his chauffeur and guardian for all intents and purposes, standing on the other side.

"What?" He demanded as Happy pushed his way into the room.

"Tony, I need to talk to you." Happy stated, sparing Pepper a quick look before focusing on the annoyed boy in front of him.

"About what?" Tony snapped, his brows furrowing.

"Your parents," Happy replied, his eyes casting downward, "they've, uh, they've had an accident."

* * *

"Look at them." Darcy muttered, rolling her eyes as she watched Thor and Jane exchange presents, beaming at each other as they did so. Loki snorted and curled his upper lip in a similar expression of disgust.

"They are exceptionally repulsive. Is there nothing you could do to distract Jane?" The lanky demi-god asked, leaning back against the wall behind the pair.

Darcy tilted her head back until it hit the wall and let out a hopeless sigh. "Nope. They're in love. There's nothing that can be done about it. Look, he's talking about the stars again. They're going to end up married before the break is over."

"Would you strangle me with this garland?" Loki inquired, nodding towards a nearby bundle of garland.

"Not worth the murder charge," Darcy responded with a shrug, "Hey, you know what would distract us from this?"

"What?" Loki demanded eagerly.

"We could talk about the horse thing."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "No."

"Oh, come on!" Darcy laughed, nudging Loki's shoulder with her own, nearly spilling the hot chocolate that the demi-god was clutching as she did so, "you've been dodging the question for months. I just want to know if you really gave birth to a horse. Why is that so difficult for you to answer?"

Loki arched a cynical eyebrow. "Do you really believe that I am capable of giving birth to a horse?"

Darcy took a moment to size the demi-god up. She had spent a large amount of time with Loki over the break, largely due to the fact that Jane was too wrapped up with her new beau to spend more than an hour at a time with her best friend. Darcy had been forced to spend time with Loki instead, and had spent the majority of that time tormenting him about the details of Norse mythology.

"Yeah, probably. I mean, your hips are sort of narrow, but you have that whole magic thing going for you. It's possible." She replied thoughtfully.

Loki rolled his eyes. "I did not give birth to a horse."

"Then why is there an entire story about it? Who could even think of creating such a story? No one could possibly be that creative." Darcy reasoned with a small smirk.

"Sif could." Loki muttered darkly.

"Sif?" Darcy echoed questioningly, "You mean that girl that transferred from Asgard with you and Thor?"

Loki nodded. "She is an exceptionally spiteful warrior. Thor and I both may have angered her on her birthday many years ago, resulting in the spread of the tales that you have read from that absurd book of yours. Very little of it is true; that which is true is exceptionally dull. It would serve you well to simply ask me about Asgard if you are particularly interested."

"Would you tell me the embarrassing stuff along with the cool stuff?" Darcy questioned skeptically.

"I would tell you any 'embarrassing' tales of Thor's youth that you would like to know. My own youth, however, was free of any embarrassing occurrences." Loki answered promptly.

"I don't believe you." Darcy challenged.

"You have no way to disprove me." The lanky boy reminded her, rolling his eyes.

"I think I might." Darcy argued with a small smirk.

Loki raised his eyebrows, unable to resist a challenge. "And what might that be?"

"Hey Thor," Darcy raised her voice to draw the attention of her best friend and the muscular blond sitting by her side, "got any embarrassing stories about Loki? He told me that you tell them the best."

Thor glanced from Darcy to Loki, who looked utterly horrified. A wide smile crossed the older Odinson boy's face. He clearly did not believe Darcy's lie, but seemed delighted at the prospect of embarrassing his younger brother regardless. Darcy smirked at Loki triumphantly.

"Has he told you of his trip to palace's treasury?" Thor inquired, his eyes lighting up with amusement.

Loki let out a hopeless groan. Darcy's smirk widened.

"He has not. I would be delighted to hear all about it!" She chirped, gesturing for Thor to come closer in order to tell the tale without speaking louder than usual.

Thor leapt up from his seat by the fireplace and extended a hand to help Jane out of her seat. Once the pair was standing, they approached Darcy and Loki, who was now glowering at Thor as though he were committing some heinous crime by telling childhood stories. Thor quickly sank down to sit on the floor across from Darcy. Jane did the same, although she sat across from Loki and afforded the lankier demi-god an apologetic smile as she did so.

"So, what happened during Loki's trip to the palace's treasury?" Darcy asked, leaning closer to Thor eagerly.

Thor chuckled, the sound rumbling deep in his chest as Loki covered his eyes with his hands in embarrassment.

"Well, he did not quite understand how to operate the doors yet. You see, they are made of a very complex system of locks and codes. He had used his tricks and talents to get into the vault, but he could not get  _out_  of the vault. He remained in the vault for a number of days before our mother realized that he was not simply playing one of his many tricks. It is worth mentioning that there are no bathhouses in the vaults…" Thor began, the corner of his mouth twisting into a smile as Darcy and Jane dissolved into giggles.

* * *

"Are you sure that your parents won't mind you spending Christmas with us?" Steve asked in a low voice, eying Peggy nervously as she followed him and Bucky towards Mrs. Barnes' car.

Peggy waved off her boyfriend's concern with a small smile. "I told my dad that I was volunteering at the soup kitchen with some friends."

Bucky let out a laugh. "A few months and you've already turned her into a liar. Steve Rogers, you are a terrible influence."

"Oh, he's not so bad." Peggy smiled, taking Steve's hand in hers.

Steve smiled back while Bucky made gagging noises beside him. Peggy rolled her eyes as Steve punched his best friend in the shoulder, both of the boys laughing all the while.

Steve had initially been concerned that Bucky would object to Peggy's presence under the circumstances; they had never brought anyone along for their annual Christmas tradition, girl or boy, and as Bucky's memory had not fully returned, it was not the optimal time to be changing a tradition. Regardless, Steve had been unable to refuse when Peggy had asked to tag along on their Christmas day adventure.

Now, however, it seemed that he needn't have worried at all. Bucky and Peggy were getting along as well as he could have expected them to. Bucky seemed happy just to do something that he had enjoyed prior to the football accident and Peggy seemed thrilled just to be included.

"So where exactly are we going?" Peggy questioned, peering at the GPS from over Steve's shoulder as he drove Mrs. Barnes' old Ford Escape down the all-too-familiar street.

"The middle of nowhere." Bucky answered as he cast Peggy a wide smile, evidently pleased to know more about this particular trip than someone who had not recently lost their memory.

"The middle of nowhere?" Peggy echoed, arching an eyebrow and staring at Steve through the rear view mirror.

The blond grinned and punched Bucky, who had maintained his traditional position in the passenger's seat despite Peggy's presence. "You're making it sound like we're bringing her out into a corn field to murder her, Buck. We're just getting out of the city for a while; Bucky and I've been going to this camp site for years. You'll love it; we'll make a fire, roast some marshmallows, then swing into this little town on the edge of the camp site for some hot chocolate. Sound good?"

"That sounds very good." Peggy allowed with a wide smile.

"He's leaving out the part where we throw the newest tag-along into a lake." Bucky added with an impish grin.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Bucky."

Bucky shrugged, still grinning. "Alright, Steve'll probably jump in before anyone can get thrown into the lake. The guy's reckless, you know. I used to have to pull him off of kids during recess."

Steve laughed before stopping short. His foot spasmed on the gas pedal as he slowly turned to look at Bucky. Bucky looked as though he had been struck over the head with a giant rock. Both of the boys stared at each other with wide eyes for a few seconds.

"Steve, the road." Peggy reminded her boyfriend, lunging forward to hold the steering wheel.

Steve shook his head and blinked for the first time in a number of seconds. He returned his focus on the road - or at least, part of his focus - while working through the event that had just occurred.

Bucky had mentioned something that had happened way before the football accident. Steve hadn't mentioned that particular part of their past and judging from the look on Bucky's face, neither had Mrs. Barnes. Bucky had remembered something on his own.

"What is the matter with you two? You look like you've seen a ghost." Peggy commented, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

She had no idea what Steve reminded Bucky about on a day-to-day basis and therefore could not know that Bucky's previous statement contained part of a remembered past. She assumed that the boys were acting strange about something else; they did seem to have a lot of inside jokes.

"Bucky, did you just…?" Steve asked, unsure of how to phrase the question racing around his mind.

Bucky nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Peggy rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed huff. "What are you guys being so dramatic about? Is this a prank? Steve, I told you that if you pranked me I would show up at your dorm with an artillery of nerf guns."

"This isn't a prank, Peggy. I, uh, I think Bucky just remembered something." Steve replied, allowing his eyes to rove over his best friend once more before returning to the empty road ahead of them.

Peggy's eyes widened. "Really? Oh, wow, that's amazing! Um, do you remember a lot?"

Bucky shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing. "No, I don't really know where that came from," He glanced at Steve as though his best friend was withholding that specific detail, "It just sort of happened."

"Maybe you just need to relax and let the rest of your memory come back on its own time," Steve reasoned, a wide smile sliding across his face carelessly, "It'll all be back before you know it."

"Hm. Hopefully I'll start remembering things more useful than the stupid fights you picked in junior high. It's a miracle those guys didn't kill you, you know." Bucky grumbled good-naturedly.

"I wonder why you're remembering things now." Peggy mused, resting her chin on the back of Steve's seat and watching Bucky thoughtfully.

"Maybe I'm your good luck charm." Steve suggested with a laugh, sparing Bucky an amused grin.

Bucky rolled his eyes, but couldn't help laughing along with his best friend. "You're a pretentious punk, Rogers."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked, regretting the question as soon as it slipped through her lips.

Clint smiled as he looked up from the hideously shriveled tree that he had managed to locate at some point during their stay. Pizza the dog lounged nearby, watching his owner through curious, yet lazy eyes.

"Don't you do Christmas?" Clint inquired, returning his attention to the scraggly tree.

Natasha folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. "I don't 'do' holidays."

"Well," Clint huffed, finally standing up and taking a step back to properly examine his handiwork, "There's a first time for everything."

"Can't we just focus on the case?" Natasha sighed, feeling her face redden.

She disliked the idea of holidays; holidays were for cookie-cutter families. Holidays were something that anyone without the perfect family grew up to loathe. Holidays were a reminder of her lacking childhood and the family that she would never know. Natasha actively avoided holidays.

"Too late," Clint replied cheerfully, "Pizza dog already got you a present."

Natasha shot the dog a dark look. Pizza the dog whined and placed his head between his paws as though he was perfectly aware of Natasha's anger. Clint just smiled at the pair and produced a small box that was poorly wrapped in cheesy Christmas wrapping paper.

"I didn't get you anything." Natasha stated, watching Clint carefully.

The blond just grinned and continued to hold out the gift until Natasha accepted it. If he was bothered by the fact that Natasha hadn't gotten him anything, he certainly did not show it. He seemed perfectly content just to watch Natasha open the present that 'Pizza dog' had gotten her.

She unwrapped the present reluctantly, still unsure about how to proceed. She had never spent Christmas with anyone before. She debated running out and trying to find a fitting present for Clint before opening whatever it was that he had gotten her, but decided against it. She would maintain her carefree disposition for the time being. Getting attached would not get her anywhere.

Once she had torn away the tacky wrapping paper, a jewelry box materialized. Natasha's eyes narrowed. She was not an expert on either Christmas or romance, but she had seen enough movies to know that jewelry was not a present that she wanted to receive. Women always seemed to melt when they opened a jewelry box, which men took as permission to become excessively possessive creatures. Natasha had no intentions of melting or being possessed.

"What is this?" She demanded, glaring at Clint as her fingers lingered on the lid of the box.

Clint laughed, exchanging amused looks with Pizza the dog before grinning at Natasha. "Just open it."

"I don't want to." Natasha admitted, feeling her face burn as she scowled down at the box.

"You don't trust me?" Clint teased, waggling his eyebrows.

Natasha watched him, waiting for any giving signs. "I trust you." She allowed at length.

"Then open the box. Please." Clint persisted.

Natasha let out an exasperated huff before removing the lid to the box. To her surprise, not a single piece of jewelry was waiting to greet her in the box. Instead, a small pen was laying there, humble and unimposing. She arched an eyebrow, feeling an intoxicating wave of relief rush over her.

"Thank you?" She forced herself to say, unable to keep the tone of confusion out of her voice.

Clint threw his head back laughing, drawing attention from Pizza the dog.

"Relax, I didn't just get you a pen to confuse you. It's a high-intelligence pen. Look at the side; it's got a small screen on it. It'll correct answers on your test, run spell checks on your words, and best of all, it can measure the heart rate and level of perspiration of whoever's holding it. It records the information too. That means - "

"If I can get someone to hold the pen when I'm interviewing them, I can tell if they're lying." Natasha concluded with a decisive head nod. Her lips twisted into a smile. She couldn't help it; she loved helpful technology.

Clint shrugged, a bashful smile now crossing his face. "I don't know, I was in D.C. when I saw it and I just thought that it might be something you like."

"Thank you." Natasha smiled, unsure of exactly how to express her gratitude. She conveniently decided to forget the small detail that Clint hadn't been to Washington D.C. in a number of months; he must have selected the pen before Natasha had even considered any romantic feelings that she might have had for the archer.

"Hm," Clint smiled, seemingly satisfied with her reaction, "well, Pizza dog says you're welcome. He also says that we should probably finish up the field files before Agent Carter kills us. I think one of them might require some pretty heavy trespassing."

* * *

"Are you sure that I'm not intruding? I really don't mind getting out of your hair if you want to spend the day with your family. I think Tony came home from his vacation early. He'd probably let me stay with him until the dorms opened up." Bruce reminded Maria on Christmas morning, running a hand through his mop of curls and making eye contact with his newest roommate uncomfortably.

Maria smiled and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? My mom loves you. You couldn't leave even if you wanted to. She's already got a ton of Christmas presents under the tree for you. Now we just have to wait for my parents to wake up before we can open presents."

Bruce smiled and nodded to himself. He and Maria had been sitting on the top of the staircase for at least a half an hour waiting for Maria's parents to wake up. Maria had woken him up at seven in the morning insisting that it was a tradition to wait and discuss the presents that might be waiting for them just below the stairs. He was happy to oblige, thrilled to have something resembling a normal holiday for what felt like the first time in decades.

"I really wish you would have told me that earlier. I didn't get your family very much; I didn't have much time." Bruce sighed, feeling a bit guilty for being such an imposition on the Hill family.

Maria waved off his regretful comment. "Oh, please, I know exactly what you did. You practically raised Tony's lab and ripped off almost every idea he's had in the past three years. That's right; I recognize Stark technology when I see it. My parents will love it. They're always excited to see what the Stark family comes out with."

"Are you two waiting to open presents?" Maria's dad's voice boomed from behind them.

Both Maria and Bruce whipped around to see Maria's dad standing behind them, his cheeks rosy and his eyes twinkling. Maria and Bruce smiled back immediately.

Mr. Hill was so unlike Bruce's father. He was kind, soft-spoken, constantly joking, and never seemed to be angry. Bruce couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He wished that his home life was at least half as pleasant as Maria's.

"Of course; what took you so long? Can we please go downstairs now? Bruce has not stopped talking about how impatient he's getting." Maria beamed, winking at Bruce before focusing her attention on her smiling father.

Bruce smiled sheepishly as Mr. Hill cast him a warm smile.

"Yeah, Bruce is definitely on the demanding side," Mr. Hill agreed teasingly, "Wait for your mother to get her camera. You know that she likes to take pictures of you opening gifts."

Maria groaned. "Can't I get it for her?"

"Will you look at the presents?" Mr. Hill inquired, raising his eyebrows cynically.

"Probably." Bruce speculated with a small smile.

Maria looked from Bruce to her father before giving a loud sigh. Bruce, on the other hand, couldn't stop smiling. It was his first time being included in a family environment that felt, well, _pleasant_. There was no yelling, all of the arguing was playful and light-hearted, and from the look of it, Maria didn't look like she was worried about slipping up and saying the wrong thing at any given moment. Bruce never wanted to leave the Hill household.

"Alright, alright," Mr. Hill relented, hanging his head and laughing, "you can go downstairs. Don't unwrap anything, though. Your mother is going to kill me as it is."

Maria grinned and immediately bounded down the stairs. Bruce followed her hesitantly, not wanting to upset Mrs. Hill by disobeying her rules. Still, he figured that as long as Mr. Hill was smiling, he couldn't be in too much trouble.

"You can grab your stocking off of the fireplace. I hope you like chocolate; mom isn't used to buying candy for anyone but me, and I  _love_  chocolate." Maria said, nodding towards two overstuffed stockings leaning against the fireplace before diverting her own attention to all of the presents that were not wrapped.

Bruce stared at the stocking in awe while Maria fluttered around her own presents eagerly. He had never gotten a stocking before, and had definitely never had so much thought put into a present of any kind. The stocking was filled with candy, bits and pieces of hardware that Mrs. Hill must have picked up when she said that she was running errands, and…

"What're these?" Bruce questioned inquisitively, holding up a bundle of purple fabric.

Maria approached him to get a better look, her head cocked to the side slightly. "I think they're shorts."

Bruce couldn't help but smile. "Purple shorts. Huh. Well, I guess that'll be a look."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Tony Stark could feel all eyes on him on the first day back at S.H.I.E.L.D. High. He couldn't pretend that the news hadn't spread among the student body the moment his parents' deaths were published in the newspapers. He just wished that everyone - Pepper included - would stop looking at him as though he were a charity case.

"Oh, uh, hey, Tony," Bruce murmured awkwardly as Tony entered their dorm room in order to escape the crowds gathering around him.

Tony paused, taking a moment to examine his roommate. Bruce seemed occupied with homework, despite the fact that there had not been a single class session since the end of the winter break, and was acting as though the break had not happened at all. Tony quirked an eyebrow, but decided against making a comment on his roommate's apathetic attitude as he tossed his suitcase onto his bed.

"Hey, Banner. What the hell are you wearing? Are those  _purple shorts_? Where did you even find purple shorts? It's the middle of fucking winter in New York." Tony questioned, hoping to divert the attention from himself in order to maintain the first normal conversation that he had had in weeks.

Bruce looked down at his shorts and smiled sheepishly. "Maria Hill's mom bought them for me."

"Maria Hill's mom…?" Tony's eyebrows furrowed. He didn't know where to begin in terms of questioning his roommate. As far as he knew, Bruce had spoken to Maria maybe five times throughout his entire life. "How...I don't...not to be...but... _why_?"

Bruce laughed at the eloquently worded question. "I ended up at her house for Christmas."

"Are you two…?" Tony waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The billionaire would not have been disappointed to see Bruce finally make some progress in his pitiful love life. It would certainly do the poor mop-headed boy some good; he was always moping around the dorm room as though he was expecting something terrible to occur the moment he smiled.

Bruce shook his head hastily. "No; I wasn't exactly invited over for the holidays. I didn't have anywhere else to go. Everyone I knew was on vacation with their families."

Tony sighed and sat down across from Bruce, who was now staring at the ground determinedly.

"Your dad again?" Tony asked as gently as was possible.

"I was just having a bad night. You don't need to worry about it, Tony." Bruce murmured, busying himself with his homework once again.

Tony nodded slightly, watching Bruce carefully. "You know that you don't have to suffer through him, right? There are people you could call, places you could go...hey, I have an entire mansion to myself now. We could always leave this shithole and live a few miles down the road."

Bruce finally cracked a smile. "I think that's one of your worst ideas yet."

"It might be," Tony agreed, also smiling, "but it'd be a lot of fun."

"Hm. Well, as  _fun_  as that sounds, I should probably get back to studying instead of daydreaming about living with my deranged roommate. I have a feeling that Selvig is going to give us a pop quiz the second we set foot in his classroom." Bruce groaned, nodding towards a large pile of astrophysics notes.

"Really? Huh. Ah, fuck it, I think I'll just fail. I don't have time to study. I'm already running late to meet Pepper. Any chance that you'd want to come to dinner with us?" Tony asked, grabbing his coat off of the door and turning to cast his roommate an inquisitive glance.

Bruce rolled his eyes, not looking up from his homework. "Do I want to be a third-wheel on a fancy dinner date? Hmm. Tempting, Stark, but I think I'll pass this time. Tell Pepper I said hi."

"Alright, buddy, take it easy." Tony grinned, yanking open the door and stepping out.

Almost immediately he seemed to think better of it and stepped inside the dorm room once more.

"Hey, Bruce?"

"Mm?"

"Thanks for being cool about...well, you know."

"Mmm." Bruce nodded and waved his hand in Tony's direction, still not looking up from his homework.

"Last call to extort a free dinner out of me." The billionaire reminded his roommate as he went to step out of the door once more.

Bruce rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Get out of here. Pepper is going to kill you if you show up any later."

"It's so nice to be back." Tony chuckled, shutting the door and walking down the long hallway towards the girls' dorm.

* * *

"So, how are you and Thor? Did you have a nice break together? You were both smiling pretty wide when you got here." Maria Hill questioned as the girls hung around the girls' dorm lounge, each of them excitedly recalling details from their vacations.

Jane blushed and looked at the ground, smiling to herself slightly. Darcy, on the other hand, snorted and rolled her eyes.

"They were  _awful_ ," Darcy complained, "when they weren't gazing lovingly into each others' eyes, they were always talking about the nine realms. Honestly, if I have to hear the word 'Asgard' one more time I might throw up."

"Oh, stop. You and Loki were talking about Norse mythology the entire time! You know, I think that you guys went on more dates than Thor and I did." Jane countered with a knowing smile.

Darcy scowled. "We were not going on  _dates_ , we were trying to escape you two. You should have seen them, Maria. They were unbearable. I really thought that they were going to escape and elope while we weren't looking."

"I think you might be exaggerating." Jane rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, I think I might believe her," Maria commented, partially for the sake of maintaining the interesting banter, "But I think I might also believe you about Darcy and Loki. Do you think Loki is the romantic type? Has he made any grand gestures yet, Darce?"

"Gross. I didn't skip detention to hear the word Loki and romance used in the same sentence." Darcy murmured, wrinkling her nose.

Maria shrugged with a small smirk. "I don't know; Pepper went out with him. I think that new girl, Sarah Seacrest, has been talking about him, too. Apparently some people think about Loki and romance. Better move fast before someone else gets your boy."

Darcy's nose managed to wrinkle itself even more. She shook her head quickly then looked around the room for some type of distraction, desperate to change the subject. It was bad enough listening to Jane torment her about her friendship with Loki. Having Maria present to participate was borderline torture.

"Why don't you tell us about your break? Did anything interesting happen?" Darcy inquired loudly, hoping that her friends would allow her to change the subject instead of tormenting her further.

Maria and Jane smiled at each other knowingly before allowing the topic to shift.

"You know, actually, the weirdest thing did happen. Bruce Banner stayed at my house for Christmas. I'm pretty sure my mom wants to adopt him." Maria stated with a small smile.

Darcy and Jane both gawked, shocked that their friend had waited so long to tell them such an important piece of news. It wasn't that they were particularly surprised by Maria's decision to allow one of their classmates to stay at her house over the break - Maria was always looking out for the welfare of the student body - both Jane and Darcy were more interested to hear how Bruce wound up at their friend's door.

"Why was Bruce at your house? He told me that he was planning on spending the holidays with his family. I didn't even know that you two were close." Jane commented, looking thoroughly confused.

Maria's face reddened. She quickly realized that it would be very difficult to explain Bruce's presence without revealing the secret that she had sworn never to tell. She looked from Jane and Darcy, both of whom were expecting an answer, before quickly concocting an explanation.

"Yeah, it was weird; I definitely wasn't expecting him. He just showed up one night and said something about getting into a fight with his dad. I don't think I was really his first choice. He told me that he only came over because I was the only one home for the break." She explained easily.

Darcy quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. "And he stayed with you for the rest of the break?"

"He wasn't really desperate to get home and my parents liked having the extra company. It worked out for everyone." Maria replied simply.

"Are you two...you know…" Jane prodded cautiously.

Maria shook her head immediately. "It _is_  possible for you to spend a vacation with someone without falling deeply in love, you know."

"I agree." Darcy smirked triumphantly.

Jane rolled her eyes at her friends. "You guys could do a lot worse than Loki and Bruce, you know."

Darcy snorted while Maria shrugged sheepishly.

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to bother you. I should probably get to studying anyway," Jane smiled, standing up and stretching, "just remember: if you don't let them know how you feel, someone else might."

* * *

"I think your waist has gotten even smaller since I last saw you. Please tell me that you have not been dieting to look like a walking Dorito." Natasha Romanov teased, leaning in the doorway of Steve Rogers' dorm room.

The blond turned to cast Natasha a goofy smile while Sam Wilson guffawed on the other side of the room. Steve hadn't expected to see Natasha on his first day back at S.H.I.E.L.D. He had assumed that she would still be on her top-secret field training excursion with Barton. He certainly hadn't prepared himself for the onslaught of questions he knew he was about to receive.

"Hey Nat," He chuckled, setting down the clothes he had been unpacking, "Should I even ask you how your break was, or will a SWAT team descend and take me away to some remote location to keep me quiet?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and took a seat at Steve's desk chair. "It was alright. Kind of boring, actually. I didn't even get to use any of my new sparring moves."

"Not even on Clint?" Steve teased with a grin.

"He wouldn't let me." Natasha answered with a smile.

"I can't blame him," Sam commented from across the room, "None of us have forgotten that time you 'accidentally' broke Quill's hand over the last slice of pumpkin bread last October."

Natasha rolled her eyes and scowled in Sam's direction. "It really was an accident, you know. He came up from behind me and reached over my shoulder. What was I supposed to do? He could have been attacking me."

Sam snorted loudly. "Who on this Earth would be stupid enough to attack you?"

"You never know," Natasha shrugged, smiling reluctantly, "Do I even want to know what you did over break, Sam?"

"I think you might; it was great. Now, I don't want you to be jealous, but I got Tabby Baker to go to the movies with me -"

Steve let out a huff of laughter from across the room. "After getting turned down about ten times."

"Rogers, your jealousy is showing," Sam bit back, smirking slightly before returning his attention to Natasha, " _Anyway_ , I had a hot date with Tabby, my mom got me twelve pounds of candy because she didn't really know what else to buy, and my buddy Riley just turned twenty-one, so -"

"And that's where the stories get inappropriate," Steve interrupted with an apologetic smile, "Sam, you should really learn to read the room, buddy."

"I think you just don't want Natasha to see you blush." Sam countered with a knowing grin.

Steve glowered at Sam, but didn't object as his face began to heat up. He could not deny that his face tended to redden while hearing the ridiculous stories that Sam effortlessly concocted. He did not particularly relish the idea of going through that experience while in the same room as Natasha. At least, not on his first day back at S.H.I.E.L.D. He needed time to readjust to his life at school.

"Aw, don't pick on Steve. If he's sat through your stories once, he's already suffered enough. Why don't you tell us about your break, Steve? Did you and Bucky proclaim your undying love for each other yet?" Natasha teased, smiling at Steve playfully.

Steve rolled his eyes. "No, Nat; I'm dating  _Peggy_ , remember? She, uh, she actually went out with us on Christmas."

"Wow," Natasha remarked, raising her eyebrows in surprise, "You let someone else in on your little tradition? How did Bucky take the news?"

"He likes her. I think." Steve answered, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "They get along pretty well. Actually, Bucky started to remember stuff while we were driving. Maybe Peggy's a good luck charm."

Natasha wrinkled her nose. "I guess that means I'm going to start seeing a lot more of her, doesn't it?"

Steve's mouth curved upwards slightly. "She really isn't that bad, you know. You guys just...ah...you should spend more time together. Maybe have a sleepover or something. I'm sure she would, uh, love to hang out with you."

"You are the worst liar," Natasha proclaimed, unable to bite back a smile, "But you're also the only person at this school worth talking to, so I guess I can at least  _try_  to like your girlfriend. I'll text her and ask if she wants to get lunch this weekend."

"Thanks." Steve said, smiling in relief.

He had been worried about Natasha and Peggy's nonexistent friendship. He knew it was unrealistic to expect both of the girls to immediately become friends simply because they were key parts of his life, but he had wished for it all the same.

"Can I come too?" Sam asked with a wide smile.

"No." Steve and Natasha answered in unison.

* * *

"Um, yeah, sorry for interrupting, professor. They want Clint Barton in the office." Maria felt her face redden as she interrupted what was clearly an important history lecture.

Clint, on the other hand, looked absolutely thrilled to escape. He smirked at Rhodey, who appeared to be half-asleep at his desk, and bounded towards the door eagerly. Maria spared Bruce Banner, who was also suffering through the lecture, a small smile before reluctantly following the assassin in training out of the room.

"So, what're you breaking me out for? Does Stark want a crash test dummy again? Is Nat just using you to get me out of class? Damn, do you think I could just get back to my room and nap?" Clint rambled as they walked down the hall, completely ignoring the fact that Maria was shepherding him in the direction of Nick Fury's office.

"Actually, I think you're in trouble." Maria replied, opening the door to the office area and gesturing for Clint to enter.

"Trouble? What for? We've only been back for a day. No one...uh...no one went in my room, did they?" He questioned, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Maria cocked an eyebrow. "No _ooo_...should they have?"

Clint shook his head hastily. "I mean, I don't, it's not like, hey, look, sandwiches."

"That's Mr. Coulson's lunch." Maria remarked, folding her arms across her chest as Clint eyed the sandwich lying on the counter.

"Could you get me a sandwich like this one?" Clint inquired, gesturing towards the sandwich, still eying it hungrily.

Maria rolled her eyes. "I think Mr. Fury is waiting for you."

Clint glanced in the direction of Nick Fury's office and sighed. He was not looking forward to hearing what he was in trouble for. He had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the large dog residing in his room. Rhodey - his whiny roommate - had probably told on him. Clint mentally reminded himself to slip laxatives in Rhodey's ice cream after dinner.

"I want a sandwich when I get out of there." He grumbled, reluctantly shuffling in the direction of Fury's office.

"That probably won't happen." Maria responded, sliding into her usual seat at the front of the office.

Clint sighed and hung his head as he raised a fist to knock on Fury's door. As it turned out, there was no need to even knock.

"Come in, Mr. Barton." Fury's deep voice growled from behind the door.

"How'd you know it was me?" Clint questioned, stepping into the room and taking his usual seat in front of Fury's desk.

Fury cracked a smile. "Lucky guess. Any idea why you're here?"

Clint shrugged, not wanting to give himself away. There was still a chance - no matter how small - that Fury did not know about Pizza the dog. He squirmed in his seat slightly, wondering whether or not he could get Natasha to house the dog until he was out of trouble. Although, her roommate, Sif, would likely have more than a few objections to the dog. He briefly wondered if there were any dogs on Asgard. Hopefully eating dogs was not an Asgardian tradition.

Fury leaned across his desk, the smile disappearing from his face entirely. That was not a good sign. Clint tried his best not to act at all concerned. He failed miserably.

"Are you aware that trespassing is illegal in almost  _every single_  country, Hungary included?" Fury growled, his face extorting into an extremely angry expression.

Clint sat back in his chair and let out a small sigh. Fury didn't know about Pizza the dog. He had just heard about the slightly illegal method that he and Natasha had used to attain files that Agent Carter and Agent Rumlow had asked for. He wasn't in nearly as much trouble as he had originally thought.

"Oh, yeah, well, we didn't really know what else to do. Did you already call Nat down? She can probably explain it better than I can." Clint replied, glancing around the office for any type of indication that his girlfriend had already been in the office.

"No; she had the good sense to avoid looking directly at the security cameras," Fury snapped, "They've only got a full shot of you. We just got the call this morning. You're facing serious charges, Barton."

Clint sat up slightly. He had never faced  _serious_  charges before. He had gotten lectured about the destruction of property a number of times - he could hardly remember the exact amount of times, as a matter of fact - but Fury had always just yelled at him for a short period of time before running out of insults and sending him back to class. Clint shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Uh, so, what does that mean?" He asked nervously.

Fury's mouth curved just slightly. It seemed that the dean was thrilled to have finally gotten Clint Barton to pay attention. Clint was not so thrilled. He was beginning to suspect that getting out of an international trespassing charge might not be as easy as convincing Fury that the gym equipment broke because it was defective.

"All of the school's lawyers are tied up in a project right now - the twins have been acting up again - so your best bet is to wait until they can defend you. You don't want to risk going to an international prison. We can probably push your court date back a few months, but…" The dean trailed off, staring down at his calendar dismally.

"But what?" Clint demanded, not feeling at all comforted by Fury's solution.

"That would interfere with your scheduled graduation date." Fury answered promptly.

Clint's eyes widened. "What? No! You can't do that! I have to graduate this year - I'm a senior! I can't wake up at six in the morning for another year! I'm supposed to go, Nat and I were gonna…"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Barton," Fury interrupted, although he was very clearly  _not_  sorry, "maybe next year."

* * *

"How did you fare, Thor?" Loki inquired, leaning over his brother's desk to get a better look at the exam score that Thor had received. The lankier boy had received a perfect score - something he fully intended to brag about once he saw his brother's lesser score.

Thor groaned and handed his test to Loki. He shook his head in disappointment. Loki arched an eyebrow, but managed to tear his eyes away from his brother long enough to observe the score written on the top right corner of the collection of papers. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline when he did.

"How have you managed to earn a score this low?" Loki asked, flipping through the pages to see if Thor had exerted any effort at all, "You are aware that this number is out of one-hundred, are you not?"

"Father will banish me." Thor mumbled glumly.

It was no secret that Thor was doing poorly in all of his classes, but this was English, after all. They both spoke it better than the large majority of the Midgardians. Loki could not believe that his brother could possibly misunderstand the meanings of "How to Kill a Mockingbird". The oaf had answered as though the book had actually regarded the slaughter of a simple mockingbird. Loki rolled his eyes.

"No, he will not. Odin does not value wisdom the way mother does. It is far more likely that you will be teased endlessly once Sif hears of your stupidity. Now, why have you circled this answer? You must know that Boo Radley is not a ghost." Loki remarked, gesturing to the paper and looking at Thor as though he were the greatest idiot in all of the nine realms.

Thor's eyes widened as he snatched the exam from Loki once more. "Were we not supposed to identify the incorrect answer?"

"Why would we identify the  _incorrect_  answer? The professor clearly indicated that we were to circle the  _correct_  answers!" Loki replied, his voice dripping with exasperation.

"When was this settled?" Thor demanded indignantly.

"Immediately before the test!" Loki responded, looking around to see if anyone else was witnessing the absurd conversation that he was being forced to have.

Thor paused for a moment before looking just as outraged as Loki felt. "I was late for the exam! I had stopped to assist Jane Foster with a science experiment!"

Loki folded his arms across his chest, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps you should speak to the professor about your grade. She might reverse it upon hearing of your misfortune. Meanwhile, I must leave now. It is lunch time and I am rather curious about the meatloaf that Darcy has been speaking of."

Thor nodded, staring down at his exam sadly. "Perhaps there will be meatloaf once I am able to return to the cafeteria."

Loki smiled slightly. "I will save you a plate."

"Thank you, Loki." Thor said, returning the smile before standing up and approaching the teacher, looking extremely nervous as he did so.

Loki collected his own belongings and exited the classroom, relieved that he was not in Thor's position. He thoroughly disliked the idea of bartering for his grades. It was much easier to prove that he was more intelligent than the Midgardians the first time around.

All his classes were going exceptionally well, as a matter of fact. He had friends in nearly every subject; he was excelling in English, triumphing in history, shattering minds in astronomy, and best of all, he was performing well enough to astonish even Professor Schmidt in his theory of magic course. It seemed that he would not have to lift a finger in order to graduate in just a few months' time. Midgardian educations were incredibly ludacris.

* * *

"Tony, why weren't you in economics today? You know that Professor Bernanke always targets me when you're gone." Pepper whined, pressing her phone to her ear in order to hear her boyfriend's lame excuses for what felt like the millionth time since winter break had ended.

"Sorry Pep," Tony's voice was muffled, as though he had something - likely a pen or some type of screw - in his mouth, "Had to go to work again. I don't know how my dad did it. This company is a mess. Did you know that Obe hasn't brought an auditor into the office in years? Now the government is on my ass about some bank accounts that I've never even heard of. I had to learn accounting last night. I'm still not really sure what the upsides of having a LIFO system is."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You could just appoint a new CEO, you know. Owning the company doesn't mean that you have to micromanage."

"Good point," Tony agreed distractedly, "You're hired. When can you start?"

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "I didn't mean me, Tony. Why don't you let Obe take over? He worked with your dad for years; he probably knows more about the company than you do. I doubt you'd have to talk him into it."

"I don't know, I feel like I should at least try to run it for a little while. This is what I'm going to be doing once I graduate; I might as well learn the ropes now. So, what did I miss in econ? Did you guys have another rousing debate on whether or not the Federal Reserve should raise interest rates? What is it with that guy and the Federal Reserve, anyway? I just want to learn the principles, not how to manipulate the entire economy." Tony mused.

"No, we just analyzed a few supply and demand curves and calculated equilibrium. We have a test on Wednesday. You should really study. I can come over and give you the notes tonight." Pepper offered.

"Sounds like a square deal. I should be done by, uh, maybe ten? Meet me at the library? I'll bring pizza." Tony offered quickly, sounding as though he wanted nothing more than to end the conversation in order to get back to work.

Pepper sighed as she pushed through the doors of the administration office. "That's past curfew, Tony. We can go over notes tomorrow. Don't argue," She added as Tony began to voice a complaint, "I don't have time to have this debate right now. I have a meeting with Mr. Coulson to get to. Please try to eat something before ten o'clock tonight."

"I'll have JARVIS set an alarm for dinner." Tony sighed.

Pepper smiled to herself. "There you go. Alright, I have to go. I'll call you tonight to make sure that Obe isn't giving you too much work. I'll come down there if I have to."

"You say that like it's a punishment." Tony chuckled.

"Goodbye Tony," Pepper said, unable to bite back a smile.

"I'll see you tonight, Potts." The genius responded, hanging up his phone before Pepper could remind him of the alternative plans that she had already laid out. She decided it was best to just ignore that minor detail.

Slipping her phone into her pocket, Pepper ventured down the narrow hallway of the administrator's office until she found herself face-to-face with Phil Coulson's door. She knocked before promptly entering, not particularly concerned about interrupting anything. Being student body president meant that she got to spend a lot of time with the vice president. Spending such a large amount of time with Coulson meant that she knew that she would never be interrupting much; he was usually either reading old comic books from the 40's or talking to his long-distance cellist girlfriend.

"Ah, Miss Potts." Coulson greeted her with a small smile.

"You can call me Pepper, you know. I'm sorry I'm late; I was trying to talk Tony into showing up for class today." Pepper laughed, plopping in the chair across from Coulson's desk, gearing up for yet another hour-long discussion about ground rules for school dances and budgeting for the equipment that students - namely, Clint Barton - always seemed to be breaking.

Coulson nodded, glancing at his computer before meeting Pepper's eyes once more. "He should be paying more attention to his attendance. Fury won't be happy when he sees these numbers."

"Well, you can only do so much when it comes to Tony," Pepper reminded him with a small shrug and a smile, "Anyway, what am I here for today? Did Natasha Romanov assault another student?"

"Uh, no, actually, this is about you." Coulson replied, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

Pepper quirked an eyebrow, her mind racing with potential subjects. She had gotten a pretty bad grade on her last management test, but only because the essay question had been completely sexist and she had refused to answer it on principle. Even so, she was still maintaining her 4.0 GPA while performing each of her duties as class president as well as anyone else in the grade could.

She supposed it could be about her new relationship with Tony. Maybe Coulson thought that she would spend less time working for the school now that she was dating Tony. Pepper rolled her eyes at the very idea. Tony had always been time consuming. Dating him certainly would not change that.

"About me?" She finally managed to ask, unable to think of a single thing that she could be held accountable for.

Coulson nodded grimly. "There's ah, there's some money missing from the treasury."

"Oh no." Pepper murmured, suddenly understanding the problem.

She had mapped out the budget so carefully. Every single dollar had been an absolute necessity; as it was, prom was going to be relatively simple due to the lack of funds. She could not imagine how she would be able to accomplish anything if the budget was any smaller.

"And, well, no one has access to the bank account but you…" Coulson trailed off, looking as though he would rather be literally anywhere else on the planet, "Pepper, I'm sorry, but until we can run a thorough investigation, we're going to have to suspend your presidential privileges."


	8. Chapter 8

"That's bullshit!" Tony spat as soon as he heard the news, "They can't just suspend you! You didn't do anything wrong - even those dipshits have to know that! Who's going to take over? Odinson? The entire prom will be him standing around talking about how great he is. Come on, I'm going to go sort this out right now. Fury's got to know that you're innocent."

Pepper let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. "Can we please talk about this somewhere else? Bruce is trying to do homework." She pointed out, gesturing to where Bruce was hunched over his desk, trying desperately to act like he was completely unaware of the drama unfolding around him.

"He's fine," Tony responded immediately, waving his hand in Bruce's general direction, "Don't change the subject. Have you asked what their investigation is going to be? I don't know if you know this, but neither Coulson nor Fury are exactly tech geniuses. I can't imagine they'll be able to trace whoever did it. There are some smart kids around here."

"I didn't tell you about this so that you could get so worked up over it. I just wanted someone to vent to. Can't you just listen and offer to buy me pizza like a normal boyfriend?" Pepper asked, completely worn out by Tony's perpetually dramatic behavior.

"Pizza? Are you out of your mind, Potts? They're accusing you of  _stealing_  - which is a federal crime, just in case you weren't paying attention in your legal courses - during the last semester of high school. They could withhold your diploma for this! That would ruin  _everything_. Say goodbye to Yale, because you'll still be hanging around S.H.I.E.L.D. next year." Tony responded angrily.

"You don't think I don't know that?" Pepper snapped back, finally succumbing to the temptation of anger, "You don't think that I know this could completely ruin my life? That's all I've been thinking about for the past few hours, Tony. That's why I came here. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, you would make me feel better about this. Maybe you would be, I don't know, _comforting_. Clearly I was mistaken; I should have known better by now."

Tony's jaw clenched slightly. However, his face abruptly softened as he realized that tears were beginning to form in Pepper's eyes.

"Pepper," He murmured, taking a step forward.

Pepper shook her head, wiping her bangs out of her eyes. "Forget it. I should go. It's past curfew anyway. Goodnight, Tony."

With that, she strode out of the room, anxious to hide her tears from both Tony and Bruce. Tony watched her leave, his shoulders slumping as he did so. Meanwhile, Bruce was laying face-down in his homework, snoring softly.

Tony turned his attention to his dozing roommate. He needed a distraction and it seemed that the only person who could provide one at the given hour was Bruce. Without thinking about how exhausted the mop-headed boy might be, Tony glanced around the room and smirked at a nearby bottle of water. In what would prove to be one of his least intelligent decisions ever made, he quickly snatched the water bottle and emptied its contents onto his sleeping roommate.

The next few seconds were a blur that Tony could not process. All he knew was that when his eyes and mind decided to focus in unison once more, there was a giant green monster standing before him.

"Holy shit," He gasped, immediately stumbling backwards in the direction of the door.

The green monster roared and stomped towards Tony menacingly. Tony didn't really stick around to see how a stand-off might play out. He simply took off running down the hall, hollering and shouting a warning to the rest of his peers.

The monster quickly pursued the fleeing genius, tossing aside anything that stood in its way, whether it was a trash can or an entire doorway. Tony decided it was best not to look back. Instead, he focused on leading the monster out of the dorms. He hoped that there would be an administrator somewhere outside. There was maybe a chance that either Fury or Coulson were still on school grounds; they would know what to do.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Steve asked Natasha, looking up from the calculus equation that she had been trying to explain to him for at least ten minutes.

"I just got a text from Quill saying that there's some sort of monster out in the hallways. We've got to check it out!" Sam remarked, gesturing towards his phone before leaping out of his bed and moving towards the door. Clint, who had been watching Jackass with Sam while Natasha helped Steve with his homework, followed suit, eager to see something more interesting than a bunch of filmed stunts.

Natasha and Steve both glanced down at Steve's seemingly endless homework before shrugging and following Sam and Clint. Monsters were definitely more interesting than calculus. With any luck, there would be no class the next day, anyway. Maybe Steve's test would get pushed back.

Once they stepped outside of the hallway, it wasn't hard to see exactly what monster Peter Quill had been talking about. A massive green creature with floppy black hair was tearing through the hallways, apparently pursuing Tony Stark. Tony's involvement didn't particularly surprise Steve.

"It looks like it's headed for the E cluster. Do you think everyone has left their room yet?" Natasha asked, her eyebrows furrowing with concern as she watched the monster's movements.

Steve let out a sharp sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, but we can't just let them stay there. Uh, Nat, why don't you evacuate everyone, try to move them far away and keep things calm? I'll get everyone out of their rooms and away from this thing. I'll, uh, I'll meet you outside."

"Yeah, right. Like I'm going to let you jump in front of the monster alone. Clint, Sam, you get everything around here under control. You heard your captain: evacuate the other dorms and get everyone away from whatever this is. We'll meet you at the football fields." Natasha barked, casting Sam and Clint a stern look before turning to look at Steve with just a hint of a smile.

"Alright," Steve murmured, knowing better than to argue with Natasha when timing was a major component of maintaining safety, "let's go. I think Thor's room is this way. He might be able to help with the evacuation."

Natasha nodded, following Steve as he sprinted in the direction that the monster was headed, sincerely hoping that they would not find themselves under one of those massive green feet. Neither of them held out much hope for Tony Stark.

Steve encountered the first door and knocked it over with a surprising amount of ease. Inside, he saw Thor and Jane fast asleep surrounded by notes and flashcards, along with Darcy and Loki, who appeared to be playing poker. Thor's eyes opened the moment he heard the door crash open.

"Guys, there's some kind of  _thing_  tearing up the dorm," Steve glanced over his shoulder at where Natasha was evacuating the room next door, "It's headed straight this way. We've got to get everyone out of here."

"I will defend the building!" Thor immediately determined, grabbing his hammer off of his desk, "Loki, you must tend to Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis."

"I did not skip detention for this." Darcy whined as Thor exited the room quickly.

Loki let out a lengthy sigh, as though getting Jane and Darcy out of the building was a complete bore. Still, as Thor ran off to fight the monster and Steve rushed towards the next occupied room, Loki threw the still-sleeping Jane Foster over his shoulder and gestured for Darcy to follow him.

The next few rooms that Steve visited were empty. It seemed that everyone had either heard the monster tearing through the halls or they had received some sort of message from those who had seen the creature firsthand.

He met up with Natasha around the corner from where the monster was fighting with Thor.

Peeking around the corner, the blond saw that, true to word, Thor was doing his best to fight off the giant green monster. Standing trembling behind the massive demi-god was Tony Stark, wide-eyed and terrified. Steve couldn't help but smirk; it seemed that Stark's ego had been knocked down a notch or two.

Natasha seemed to read his mind and swatted his shoulder. Steve turned to look at her, rubbing his shoulder resentfully.

"Now is not the time to be catty, Steve. Go get Stark. We can bring him out to the football field while Thor is distracting the big guy." She hissed, shoving Steve towards the cowering billionaire.

Steve frowned, but did as instructed. Without saying a word, he darted over to where Tony was standing, hoping that the monster would not see him. He kicked the back of Tony's knees out from under him and threw the genius over his shoulders in a fireman hold. Tony immediately began to struggle against Steve's grip.

"Rogers? What the hell? Get off of me! Do you not see what is happening? What the fuck are you doing?" Tony demanded, trying to wriggle out of the hold as Steve shuffled over to Natasha by the stairwell.

"Saving you," Steve growled back in annoyance, "You might think about saying 'thank you'."

"Alright, alright, point made, you're an American hero with muscles of steel and a heart of gold. Are you going to put me down, or are you this desperate for physical contact?" Tony quipped, still attempting to free himself from Steve's clutches.

Steve's eyes narrowed. He looked to Natasha, hoping that she would no longer force him to act kindly towards Tony. He had a hard enough time being in the same room as the billionaire, especially after finding out that Tony had dated Peggy. Natasha rolled her eyes and nodded before walking down the stairs, not wanting to linger when Thor was still struggling to fend off the monster. Steve smirked and dropped Tony, not taking any care to ensure the genius landed on his feet.

" _Ow_ , that  _hurt_ , you bastard." Tony snapped, rubbing the shoulder that he had fallen on.

"You said to put you down," Steve shrugged, still smirking, "Now let's go. I don't know how much longer Thor can hold that thing off. We've got to get to the football field before we die here."

* * *

Pepper Potts was a nervous wreck. It had been twenty minutes since Sam Wilson had showed up at her door and told her about the giant green monster in the boys' dorm. As the two boys had shepherded nearly the entire student population to the football field, Clint Barton had let it slip that the monster had been in pursuit of Tony. Her Tony.

Pepper had counted on her friends to assure her that Tony would be safe, that he would undoubtedly concoct a brilliant plan that would get him out of trouble. Unfortunately, Jane was still asleep in Loki's arms, Darcy was huddled against Loki in an effort to stay warm in the chilly weather, Maria was pacing back and forth, biting her nails anxiously, and Pepper knew better than to seek comfort from Sif. She briefly wondered where Bruce was.

"Hey, he'll be fine. Stark can be sort of a jackass, but he's smart. He'll get himself out of this." Rhodey said from behind her, sparing the worried class president a reassuring smile as she turned to face him.

Pepper shook her head, wiping away the tear tracks that were freezing on her cheeks. "I don't know; Darcy said that the monster was massive. I just, I was so mean to him the last time we spoke and…" Her voice broke as a fresh batch of tears escaped from her eyes.

Rhodey pulled her into a warm hug. Pepper didn't bother trying to maintain her dignified air. She was cold, tired, and worried sick. Being hugged by a football player could solve at least one of those problems.

"Well, I'll be damned." Rhodey suddenly chuckled, pulling away from Pepper just enough for her to see four people walking towards the crowded football field.

Tony was approaching the field with the biggest shit-eating grin Pepper had ever seen, joined by Steve Rogers, who looked infinitely less amused by the situation, Thor, who looked like he had been through a series of street fights, and Natasha, who was looking around as though she expected hundreds of monsters to appear out of nowhere.

"Tony!" Pepper squealed, rushing forward and dragging her boyfriend into a lung-crushing hug.

Tony let out a surprised "mphf!" but did not further object to the hug. Instead, rested his chin on the top of Pepper's head and allowed her to cry and blubber as much as she needed. She had had a difficult day as it was. She was perfectly entitled to cry as much as she deemed necessary.

"I thought you were dead." Pepper stated, wiping the tears from her eyes in an attempt to regain her composure.

Tony laughed and shook his head. "You always were the dramatic one."

* * *

"Here comes Thor; how do you think he's going to feel about you carrying Jane around like a little doll?" Darcy teased, nudging Loki's shoulders without taking her eyes off of the blond demi-god approaching them.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "Thor is aware of my lack of interest in romantic affairs. I am positive that he will understand that this is the greatest kindness I could possibly allow Jane Foster. And what of your behavior, clinging to me as though the wind could blow you away?"

"It's cold. I'm not immune to it. We can't all be frost giants." Darcy bit back, glaring up at the lanky boy who was currently supplying her with warmth. Loki smirked back down at her, but didn't bother replying.

"Brother, there you are! Is Jane Foster unwell?" Thor inquired once he had managed to squeeze through the crowd and approach his brother.

"She may be a bit on the cold side, but she is otherwise as well as she was prior to our escape. It seems that she is a very heavy sleeper." Loki replied, handing Jane over to Thor immediately.

Thor smiled down at Jane fondly. The girl had been exhausted when she had arrived at the Odinson's door with Darcy in tow; she had spent an inordinate amount of time calculating the convergence that Thor had been telling her about. She had created countless maps, used dozens of formulas, and had gone through piles of notebooks. She had worn herself out studying the stars.

Loki, who was not distracted by the reasons behind Jane's exhaustion, suddenly took a step forward and mumbled, "Oh, dear."

Thor finally looked up from Jane to see exactly what Loki could be complaining about now. He was not entirely surprised to see that the green monster had pursued the students out onto the field. He was a few yards off yet, but he was advancing quickly. He would reach them in a matter of seconds.

Natasha and Steve were already scrambling, screaming various directions and strategies to the wholly unprepared student body. Tony was pushing Pepper in Steve's direction, hollering something about protecting her. Clint was hollering at Natasha, apparently trying to talk her out of facing the monster, and Sam was holding back Maria, who seemed to have an active interest in approaching the creature.

Thor's posture stiffened. It was clear that he could not slaughter the monster, for if he could, it would have been dead moments ago. It was also painfully clear that no other student had even the slightest idea how to handle the current situation.

With an annoyed sigh, Loki pushed Darcy off of him.

"Look after her." He instructed Thor, nodding in Darcy's direction before striding forward, approaching the beast quite willingly. He was not entirely sure that he was capable of destroying the monster, but it was entirely possible that he could restrain it. If he could recall the necessary spell, that was.

The lanky boy began to entertain the possibility that he had made an incredibly foolish decision as he found himself standing in the path of the beast without a single plan in his brain. All spells had fled from his mind and he certainly did not possess the brute strength to fight off the creature.

Luckily, it did not come to that. As the beast stomped right up to Loki, a small plane flew. The monster was immediately distracted. It leapt up and clung to the plane in an effort to bring it to the ground. Instead, the plane simply carried the monster off. Loki was not exceptionally concerned about the final location, so long as it was nowhere near S.H.I.E.L.D. High.

All of the students huddled together on the football field cheered and chattered among themselves excitedly. Rumors began to spread; perhaps it had all been an emergency drill. Mr. Fury had been talking about running drills for months, after all. Yes, it had probably all just been a drill.

Loki ventured back to Thor, Jane, and Darcy as his classmates largely ignored the sacrifice that he had almost made. He decided he would forgive them, for the time being. It had been a trying night for everyone.

"Well, look who it is: Mr. 'I say I hate everyone but actually risk my life to save them'. What happened to your theory on acts of valor being stupid?" Darcy taunted as soon as Loki was within earshot.

Jane, now awake, swatted her best friend. "I didn't see you stepping up."

"Because it was a stupid thing to do!" Darcy replied with a laugh, "We're all maybe a fourth of the size of that thing and we don't know anything about it. I like to avoid death whenever it's at all possible."

Jane scowled and moved to correct Darcy once more, but Loki held up a hand, smirking slightly.

"She's entirely correct, I'm afraid," He drawled, "It was exceptionally foolish of me to approach the beast. I had no plan in place, nor could I come up with a plan that might be of use to anyone. I don't think that I will be trying that again."

With that, the group began to follow the rest of the student body towards the torn up dorms. There would be countless maintenance men running throughout the buildings for the rest of the year, but for the time being, so long as their rooms had a roof and a bed, the students were satisfied.

"I thought that act of bravery most appropriate, Loki. Father will be proud when he hears of it." Thor stated, clapping Loki on the shoulder a bit too roughly. Loki winced and scowled at the ground.

"Mother will be extremely disappointed to hear that this institution is teaching me to use brute force instead of magic. I suppose I should accredit my incompetence to my professors. Professor Schmidt, in particular. He finds fault with nearly everything I do, yet refuses to teach me a solution." The lanky boy murmured thoughtfully.

"Welcome to the American education system, pal. We're real good at learning." Darcy said, yawning as she stumbled in the direction of the dorms. She was not keeping a consistent path and was constantly bumping into Loki, despite his best efforts to avoid contact with her. His eyes narrowed a bit each time, but he opted to say nothing on the matter.

"You both must realize that you are following us to the dormitories provided for male students, do you not?" Loki commented after a few minutes, staring at Jane and Darcy inquisitively.

Jane looked at the distance between their current location and the girls' dorm. She groaned and shook her head. "I can't walk that far. It's just not possible."

"I will share my bed with you, Jane Foster," Thor said immediately, "I will sleep in the common area if it would make you feel more comfortable."

"My hero." Jane smiled, wrapping her arms around Thor's and following him in the direction of the dorms.

Loki made to follow, but was immediately halted as Darcy came to a stop in front of him. He arched an eyebrow inquisitively.

"What about you? Aren't you going to offer me your bed?" Darcy demanded.

Loki looked taken aback. "Why should I?"

"Chivalry." Darcy replied with a small shrug.

"I cannot see how a detailed code of conduct for jousting and fighting could possibly assist you in persuading me to offer you my bed." Loki deadpanned.

Darcy rolled her eyes and began to walk in the direction of the boys' dorm once more.

"Asking was a formality," She called over her shoulder, "Your bed is mine whether or not you want to share it, Odinson."

Loki glowered after her and grumbled to himself as he followed her back to the dorm. He knew that arguing would do him little good. Darcy Lewis was perhaps the most stubborn being that he had ever had the displeasure of knowing. If he were to deny her his bed, she would likely use Thor as a bargaining tool. After that, the argument would only last a few minutes with the same outcome: Darcy Lewis would be sleeping in his bed, like it or not.

The lanky demi-god flopped down on his bed the second that he reached his room, largely ignoring Thor, Jane, and most importantly, Darcy. This did not seem to deter Darcy one bit. She simply swatted and pinched him until there was enough space for her on the bed. She then proceeded to crawl under the covers and curl up in a surprisingly small ball, shivers wracking her body every few seconds.

Loki glared at her, furious that she was invading his space even more than usual. "I will never have an interest in you as a romantic partner, you know."

"That's good." Darcy murmured, pulling at the covers a bit, "You're not really my type."

"Hm," Loki murmured, turning his back to Darcy, "If that assertion aids you in your heartbreak, I will overlook that it is a very obvious lie."

"You're too kind." Darcy muttered, her mouth curving into a smile as she began to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Do you have _any_  idea what kind of danger you put yourself in tonight?" Nick Fury growled, pacing the length of his office as Bruce Banner and Phil Coulson both struggled to remain awake.

It was three in the morning. Fury had waited until the excitement had died down and the students had gone to sleep before demanding that a number of his most trusted staff members find and retrieve Bruce. The boy had been more than a little hesitant to return to school grounds, knowing very well that the dean would not be pleased with his behavior.

"I  _am_  sorry," Bruce said for what felt like the thousandth time, "I really didn't mean to."

"That's the point. You can't control this. You're volatile and dangerous. We can't have you surrounded by students. We can't have you anywhere  _near_  Stark. You need to be isolated until we can learn to manage this." Fury stated.

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed. He looked from Fury to Coulson, his mouth curving downward. " _We_  learn to manage this?"

"Bruce," Fury was moving slowly now, careful to avoid angering Bruce, "we have given you plenty of time to get the Hulk under control,"

Bruce's jaw clenched. He hated when Fury referred to the other guy as the 'Hulk'. He didn't want to give it a separate name. He didn't want to give it anything, as a matter of fact. He wanted to be able to go about his life without worrying about a bottle of water setting him off on a rampage. He wanted to be just like everyone else.

"Letting you make your own decisions just isn't working," Fury continued, pretending not to notice the anger that was so obviously written across Bruce's face, "we warned you about this. We're going to have to take you out of the science program. All of your class time will now be devoted to learning to control yourself. Coulson will figure out your new living arrangements while I -"

"I can't live with Tony anymore?" Bruce asked, his eyes widening a great deal.

Part of him was relieved, he supposed. He felt terrible for putting his roommate in danger without any sort of warning. Tony was going through enough with losing his parents and fighting with Pepper. The very last thing the billionaire needed was to worry that his roommate was going to kill him at any given moment. Still, Bruce couldn't deny that he hated the idea of living with anyone else. Tony understood him, for better or worse. Tony made terrible science jokes that no one else could possibly appreciate, he left food 'lying around' on nights when he knew that Bruce had too much homework to visit the dining hall, and perhaps most importantly, Tony made him feel like he was just another normal kid. Bruce doubted he would ever experience that feeling again.

"I'm sorry Bruce, we've just got to do what's best for everyone." Coulson replied apologetically.

Bruce swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, trying to focus on whatever it was that Fury was now talking about. Unfortunately, his mind kept wandering back to everything that he would be missing out on now that he had effectively ruined the chances of maintaining a remotely normal life. He had been looking forward to the robotics competition. He and Tony had spent hours on the school's robot; hours laughing and bickering over the control system. Bruce had also been toying with the idea of attending prom. It was ridiculous, he knew that, but regardless, he was curious about the whole experience. He might have even brought a date. More than anything, though, Bruce had been excited to graduate. He had already been accepted into all of the colleges he had applied to and had been excited to major in nuclear physics. The very idea of getting away from his father had been enough reason for excitement.

"You'll be sleeping in a spare room until we can find something more suitable for you. We'll send an email to your professors informing them that you are no longer in the science program. We will also speak to Tony Stark tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Mr. Banner." Fury concluded.

Bruce nodded numbly. "Night." He mumbled before following Coulson in the direction of the spare room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine!**

"So that was...Bruce?" Tony asked, surprised at how small his voice sounded.

Maria Hill, who had been kind enough to avoid commenting on the fact that Pepper's boyfriend had followed the girls back to their dorm room, nodded her head grimly. While she would have normally insisted that Tony return to his room, she was surprisingly grateful for his presence now. He served as some sort of distraction. His rapid-fire questions were enough to keep her mind from wandering to where Bruce might be, or what might become of him.

"How? I've lived with him for three years. Why didn't anyone tell me that my roommate turned into the jolly green giant whenever water spilled on him? Didn't anyone think that I'd be interested in knowing that I was living with a monster?" Tony demanded angrily.

Maria glared at the billionaire. "He's not a monster. You said it yourself, you've lived with him for three years without knowing. He doesn't  _want_  you to know. It's not like he chose to turn into…" she paused, unsure of how to describe exactly what it was that Bruce turned into, " _the other guy_  when he gets mad. He's still Bruce, and he's probably terrified that everyone is going to forget that now."

"Well, ripping apart the dorm was a little out of character." Tony grumbled.

Pepper shot her boyfriend a dark look. "No one is forgetting that he's still Bruce. What do you think the school is going to do? Has Fury said anything about any sort of protocol in the past?"

"No; Bruce has never really had an incident at school. Um, when he was over at my house, he told me that Fury has really been pushing to train him, whatever that means. He was terrified of being used as some sort of military weapon." Maria responded, her voice trembling as she was forced to speculate on the very subject that she had been hoping to avoid thinking about altogether.

"Bruce? A military weapon? There's no way," Tony objected immediately, "he won't even kill a bug that's hanging over his bed. There's no way they're going to get him to leave the science program to be trained as a  _weapon_."

"I don't know if he's going to have any choice in the matter." Maria replied with a frown.

Tony's eyebrows scrunched together. "What, is Fury just going to force him into becoming a weapon? He can't do that. That's against some kind of law, isn't it?" He looked to Pepper for some sort of reaffirmation.

Pepper shrugged and shook her head. "I really don't know, Tony. This isn't a black-and-white thing. He endangered everyone's lives tonight. They're going to have to do  _something_."

"So you think that they should just go ahead with it, then? You think that everyone should just give up on it? Let him go? As long as it doesn't impact them, who cares, right?" Tony's voice was going a bit hysteric. He could hear it, but he didn't bother acknowledging it. It was too easy to just allow the anger to run its course.

"You know that isn't what I'm saying, Tony." Pepper replied in a slightly exasperated tone.

"I think it is; you're just too afraid to say it out loud. What about you, Hill? You're supposed to be his friend, aren't you? What are you going to do about it?" Tony demanded, turning his attention to Maria.

Her eyes widened and her face whitened. "I don't...I can't...there just isn't anything we can really -"

"So you're scared too," Tony interrupted, nodding to himself, "that's great. That's really great, guys. You're just going to let Fury turn Bruce into some kind of war machine. At least it's not you, right?" He snorted, his upper lip curling in disgust, "Well, that's fine. You can sit around and do nothing. That's your own choice. You know what, though? I'm gonna help him. I'm gonna go find him before the administrators do."

"Tony, it's four in the morning." Pepper pointed out, gesturing towards the clock on the wall.

Tony rolled his eyes, sparing Pepper one last disgusted look before exiting the room, slamming the door behind him. The fringes of his vision were beginning to look slightly red as he stormed down the stairwell. He figured that it must be the adrenaline coursing through his veins. That was good; he might need that rush at some point. He had no idea what he would encounter while searching for his roommate.

The crisis had led to an astonishing lack of supervision, so it was no trouble at all for Tony to walk right out of the girls' dormitory and straight towards the wooded area behind it. He figured that if Bruce was still running around in an effort to escape school administrators, he would probably be hiding in the woods.

"Bruce?" He called out, suddenly beginning to wish that he had thought to bring a flashlight in the midst of his anger. He had his cell phone, of course, but that light was incredibly dim and his battery was already at 7%.

He wandered around and called Bruce's name for about ten more minutes before his phone turned itself off. Eyes widening, he hit every button, vocalized every command, even slammed it against a nearby tree, hoping that it would turn back on, if not just for a minute or two. It was four thirty in the morning, it was thirty-seven degrees, it was pitch black outside, and Tony Stark had absolutely no idea how to get back to the dorms. Things were looking exceedingly bleak.

Surrendering to his fate, Tony sank to the ground with his back against a tree trunk. He zipped his jacket a bit more, wishing that he had something warmer. He briefly pondered which would occur first: seeing the sunrise or contracting hypothermia.

"Tony?"

The billionaire leapt up once again, smacking his head on a low-hanging branch in the process.

"Ouch, damn it. Who puts a branch there? Who thinks that that is the optimal place for a branch to be?" He snapped, glowing into the darkness in the direction of the tree.

A flashlight suddenly shone in his direction. "Stark, what the hell are you doing in the woods at four in the morning?"

"I could ask you the same question." Tony murmured good-naturedly, stumbling in the direction of the flashlight.

"Pepper sent me after you. When you weren't in your room, in any of the science classrooms, or in the tool shed, I figured you might have been stupid enough to walk into the woods by yourself. Looks like I was right." Rhodey replied, rolling his eyes and shaking his head at his best friend's stupidity.

"You were stupid enough to run in after me." Tony reminded him with a small smirk.

"Yeah, well, it was either that or listen to Pepper knocking on my door for the rest of the night. You know I have training in a half an hour, right? I could have slept for an extra hour instead of searching for your dumb ass. What were you even doing out here? Hoping to catch hypothermia?" Rhodey inquired.

"That's it. I've always been curious about freezing to death." Tony responded sarcastically.

Rhodey's mouth twitched into a small smile before he remembered that he was supposed to be frowning. "You were looking for Banner, weren't you?"

"Someone's got to." Tony replied testily.

"He's going to be okay, Stark."

"How do you know?"

"I don't," Rhodey answered sheepishly, "but running around like it's the end of the world isn't going to help him. Look, once I get out of training we can try to look for him some more, but until then, you have to promise me that you're not going to do anything stupid."

Tony shook his head. "The administrators will find him by then."

"So what?" Rhodey questioned, clearly not seeing a problem.

Tony looked at his best friend warily. Rhodey was training in the military program. The chances were pretty good that he would approve of Fury's plans for Bruce, so long as it was in the name of national security. It was probably for that reason that Pepper hadn't mentioned Tony's reason for storming out of the dorms at four in the morning.

"Never mind," Tony grumbled, shaking his head, "I just don't want anything to happen to him. This whole thing was my fault."

"Want to tell me how it's your fault?" Rhodey inquired, raising an eyebrow cynically.

Tony shook his head. "I could not want that any less, as a matter of fact."

Rhodey sighed and nodded his head. "Just...let this one go, man. Bruce is going to be fine and I'm sure he'll forgive you for whatever you did. He's not the kind of person to hold grudges. I actually think it's Pepper you should be worried about. She might kill you."

"Don't you have training to get to?" Tony demanded irritably as the boys reached the boys' dormitory building.

Rhodey glanced down at his watch and chuckled. "Yeah, alright, I should get going. Rogers' grade is already five percent higher than mine. If I want to make a leadership position by the end of the year, I'm going to have to figure out how to run faster than him. Dude is like a lightning bolt."

"Maybe you should start by running to practice." Tony suggested dryly.

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going. Please don't do anything stupid until I get out of training. I'll be back in an hour or so. Maybe take a nap or a tranquilizer. Whichever suits you best."

With that, the taller boy darted off in the direction of the football fields, leaving Tony to scowl to himself in the dark.

* * *

"Are you aware that you talk at great length while sleeping?" Loki demanded as Darcy sat up and stretched, nearly shoving him off of the bed in the process.

"You drool." Darcy yawned.

"I would never do something so undignified." Loki argued.

"How else would you explain that spot on your pillow? Oh, and the dried drool on your chin. Gross." Darcy persisted with a small smile.

"Perhaps it was you." Loki bit back, rubbing his chin and glaring at Darcy.

Darcy snorted. "Drooling over you is the very last thing I would ever do. Ugh, can you move? I need to get to the dining hall before all of the chocolate muffins are gone. Do you think showing up at the dining hall in the same clothes qualifies as the walk of shame?"

"Walk of shame?" Loki echoed, staring at Darcy as though she were speaking a foreign language.

"Stride of pride!" Jane exclaimed, sitting up on Thor's bed and beaming at Darcy.

"Stride of pride." Darcy agreed with a grin.

Thor and Loki exchanged confused expressions and shrugs of resignation. They had long ago given up on the dream of fully understanding what their peers were talking about. They instead focused on rolling out of bed and composing themselves before their guests noticed how dishevelled they each looked.

Little did they know, it was far too late for that. Darcy was choking back giggles at the sight of Loki's massive cowlick while Jane bit her lip and looked away in an effort not to laugh at the way Thor tucked his t-shirt into his football pajama pants. Darcy glanced down at her cell phone, wondering if there was a way for her to document the Odinson boys looking so un-prince-like without either of them noticing. She doubted that Thor would care too much, but she had a sneaking suspicion that Loki would destroy her phone before he would let her photograph him when his hair was defying gravity.

"Maybe we should go get muffins while they get dressed." Jane suggested, mostly hoping to escape the dorm room before she found herself unable to stifle the series of giggles threatening to make a debut at any moment.

Darcy nodded, unable to help letting out one quick burst of laughter as she and Jane rushed out of the room. Thor and Loki stared after them, both of the boys slightly puzzled, but opted to ignore it in favor of preparing themselves for the rest of the day.

"Did you  _see_  Loki's hair?" Darcy demanded as soon as they were out of earshot of the Odinsons, dissolving into giggles as she spoke.

"I was too busy looking at Thor's pajamas. Where did he even  _get_  them? Did you hear him last night? I think he was trying to sleepwalk. Think I should ask Loki about it?" Jane mused as the girls reached the dining hall.

Darcy glanced around for a moment. She was relieved to see that the rest of the student body looked just as dishevelled as she and Jane did. It seemed that they were not the only ones who used the lack of administrators as an excuse to have an impromptu sleepover. Darcy couldn't exactly blame them, of course. She hadn't wanted to return to her room after the previous night's chaos, either. Not when there was a possibility of a monster showing up again.

"Sleepwalking? Ugh, I don't know, Jane. That might be a dealbreaker." Darcy teased, smirking at her best friend before placing every chocolate muffin within arm's reach onto her tray.

"Oh, and drooling isn't?" Jane countered, rolling her eyes as she grabbed a nearby plate of scrambled eggs, "How do you know that you don't have Loki drool on you right now?"

"If you could avoid saying 'Loki drool' when people are trying to get breakfast, it'd be much appreciated." Clint Barton commented from beside Darcy, glancing up from a pile of breakfast sandwiches in order to 'glare' at the girls (although the intended look was ruined by the lopsided smile sliding across his face).

"I'm sorry, what other bodily fluid of Loki's would you like me to discuss?" Darcy questioned in a mock-polite voice, smirking right back at Clint.

Clint shook his head and shoved a sandwich into his mouth. "Mm-Mpf" Was all he was able to say before darting towards the dining area, clearly wanting nothing to do with the conversation at all.

Jane laughed while Darcy smirked to herself, collecting a few more chocolate muffins as a sort of prize.

"Anyway, so like I was saying, there was a pillow barrier between me and Loki. It was kind of like a dam that blocked all of the drool."

* * *

"Anyone else notice Darcy Lewis is wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday? She slept in Odinson's room last night. I think Jane did, too." Clint Barton announced as he sat down at the usual table, swiping a bagel off of Steve's tray as he did so.

"Eavesdropping again?" Steve asked, jabbing a fork in Clint's direction in order to protect his hash browns from getting stolen.

"Eavesdropping is such a harsh word," Clint replied with a coy grin, "I was just minding my own business and getting a few breakfast sandwiches. It wasn't my fault she was in there screaming about Loki's bodily fluids."

Natasha wrinkled her nose and set down her fork. "Barton, I'm trying to eat, here."

"You're always eating," Sam commented, quirking an eyebrow and smirking at the tall stack of pancakes on Natasha's tray, "besides, I want to hear what the man has to say about Loki and my future wife. Did you get any details?"

Steve choked on his orange juice, his face reddening.

"Sam!" He spluttered, grabbing a handful of napkins and pressing them to his face, " _Read the room_. No one here wants to hear about Darcy and Loki but you. Just wait until class or something."

"Alright, alright. I forgot that we've got grandpa Rogers at our table." Sam teased.

"Did you forget that 'grandpa Rogers' lapped you four times at training this morning?" Steve countered, a small smirk crossing his face.

"You know I was just tired from last night. You had the easy job: knocking on doors and telling people to leave. Barton and I had to wrangle the entire student body and get them down to the football field. If I had a prissy job like yours, I'd have lapped you ten times." Sam asserted jokingly.

"I'm sure. Speaking of, did anyone figure out what that thing was last night?" Steve asked, taking a large bite out of a piece of toast and staring at the occupants of the table questioningly.

Natasha took a large gulp of coffee before nodding her head. "It was Bruce Banner."

" _What_?" Steve and Sam yelped at the same time. The surprisingly shrill inquiry turned more than a few heads in the cafeteria.

Natasha rolled her eyes, but leaned closer so as not to be overheard. "Barton and I went through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. They're not very hard to access, you know. Coulson doesn't do a very good job of checking for malware. Anyway, apparently after Bruce's mom died -"

"I didn't know his mom was dead." Steve murmured, a stab of sympathy going through his heart.

"Yeah, whatever, I'm pretty sure that everyone here has at least one dead parent," Natasha responded, waving off Steve's comment.

Sam raised an eyebrow, but Steve knew better than to buy into Natasha's act. She felt just as bad for Bruce, but thought that showing it might be a sign of weakness. She didn't want to relate to anyone, because humanizing the 'opposition,' as she so often described her classmates, made it much more difficult to fight them. Judging from the small smile on Clint's face, he was just as aware of the redhead's defense mechanism.

"Both of my parents are still alive; do I win some kind of prize?" Sam asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"No." Natasha answered immediately. " _Anyway_ , so after Bruce's mom died, his alcoholic of a dad - who has been in and out of crazy wards for years now - brought him in to see this doctor about symptoms of depression. His dad didn't really care, he was just trying to get child services off of his back. The doctor he went to turned out to be sort of a freelance scientist on his own time and the doctor decided that he should try out this anti-depressant shot that he had been working on for a few months. For some reason, he thought that gamma radiation would create an invincible human being who would never succumb to any type of mental illness. Turns out, he got a bunch of equations wrong and now, every time Bruce's blood pressure rises to a certain level…" She snapped her fingers meaningfully.

"Shit." Sam muttered, shaking his head.

Steve nodded his agreement. He had known that Bruce had to have some sort of backstory - everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. had a backstory - but he hadn't imagined that the quiet science student's would be so dark. He was suddenly stricken with guilt as he recalled a few particularly severe blows that Thor had inflicted upon Bruce with that Asgardian hammer of his. He hoped the mop-headed boy wouldn't remember any of that.

"So what do you think Fury is going to do about it? Yeah, Banner's got a sad past, but I don't think Fury is just going to let him roam around the school anymore. Next time he'll kill Stark." Sam speculated, throwing a glance over his shoulder at where both Tony and Bruce appeared to be missing from their usual table.

"Banner killing someone? No way," Clint shook his head emphatically, "He's one of the sweetest kids at this school."

Natasha's mouth twisted into a small smile. "Sweet? I didn't know you thought that Bruce Banner was sweet."

"You know what I mean." Clint mumbled, glaring at his girlfriend.

Natasha laughed, but shook her head. "Well, putting your sentimental feelings towards Bruce aside, there is actually a little bit of a reason for concern. While  _Bruce_  might not kill anyone, that thing inside of him will. He's already come close. He sent his last girlfriend to the hospital. Tried to commit suicide the next morning."

"Holy  _shit_ , Nat," Steve remarked, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. The rest of the table immediately turned their attention to the blond, each of them stunned to hear such a loud profanity emerge from his mouth, "Why didn't you tell any of us that sooner? He really tried to kill himself?"

"Four times, actually. He was unsuccessful every single time, as you might have guessed. The monster just keeps coming out and stopping it." Natasha replied, calmly taking another bite out of her pancakes.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "Four times? Should we talk to this guy? After last night, I mean, he must be feeling pretty low…"

"I'll go with you if you want. I've never really talked to Banner before, but my cousin used to have this suicide prevention club. I met some people there who shared stories. Maybe I could tell him about them, see if that helps." Sam offered with a shrug.

"It doesn't matter if you go or not," Natasha reminded the pair, rolling her eyes, "he can't kill himself, remember? Honestly, you'll probably just make him feel worse if you show up and treat him like he's some kind of charity case. Let the kid work this out on his own. He's probably used to it by now."

* * *

Bruce paced the length of his new room, glaring at the empty bed on the other side. He was furious with himself for losing control over something as trivial as  _water_. Tony had just been joking around; he hadn't deserved to have a giant monster chasing after him over a stupid prank. The billionaire was probably angry with Bruce; angry with him for not mentioning the Hulk earlier, angry with him for nearly murdering a number of people, and angry with him for causing so much disruption towards the end of the year. The robotics team would be set back, Tony would have to find a new partner for Selvig's end-of-the-year project, and he would likely be receiving a new roommate before the year was out.

The mop-headed boy took another deep breath before exhaling shakily. His stomach felt like lead, his mind refused to focus on anything remotely positive, and his taste buds were rebelling by making even his favorite foods taste like sand. He had no idea how he could possibly continue living like this.

A knock on the door temporarily distracted Bruce from his own misery. It was likely Fury or Coulson checking on him for what must have been the eleventh time in one hour. Bruce wasn't quite sure what they expected him to do; he was too exhausted to turn into the Hulk and too beleaguered to even think about escaping.

To his surprise, when he yanked open the door he found Tony Stark standing in front of him.

"Tony?" He questioned, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him. That would be an exceedingly odd way to deal with the depression taking hold of his brain.

"Hey buddy. Maria told me where you were staying, hope you don't mind. I know you're tired from ripping apart the dorm and trying to crush me, but I have a question about Selvig's last lecture. Do you have any idea why he put two of the same constants here? That doesn't make sense. That's just a mistake, right?" Tony asked, walking straight into Bruce's isolated room and shoving a notebook in his face.

Bruce blinked stupidly, looking around the room to make sure he had not just imagined the scenario from the night before. He was still in an isolation room. Tony was sporting a number of bruises as evidence of the previous night's violence. It was very clear that he had not simply dreamt of tearing apart the school.

"The - the constants?" Bruce echoed stupidly, looking down at the notes without really seeing the equation that Tony was talking about.

"Yeah. Don't try to lie and say that you don't get it either, because I saw your grade on the last exam. You're doing better than me. But just slightly." Tony replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. He hated admitting that Bruce might be the smarter one, especially when he had to do it out loud.

Bruce sighed and took the notebook from Tony, setting it down on his nearby desk. "Tony, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm asking you about the constants in this equation," Tony replied as though Bruce was missing something completely obvious, "I would have waited instead of barging in here, but I didn't know when you'd be back in the room and the homework is due at three."

"You know I can't live with you anymore." Bruce reminded his friend, not meeting Tony's eyes as he spoke.

"What? Why?" Tony questioned, looking genuinely confused by the statement.

Bruce's eyes furrowed. "I almost  _killed_  you last night, Tony. Do you really think that Fury is going to let me live with you after that? I've got to stay here, where I can't hurt anyone. I, uh, I don't think I'm going to be taking science classes anymore, either. Fury wants me to focus on stopping...the Hulk...from coming out again."

"No way, that's just stupid. You're the smartest kid at this school. They had to import some of Hawking's work just to keep you entertained last week. They can't just pull you out of the science program." Tony argued immediately.

Bruce shook his head. "I can study science after I learn to control myself. I just don't want to hurt anyone else."

"You  _won't_  hurt anyone else." Tony asserted.

"You don't know that." Bruce replied.

"Yes I do," Tony insisted, "you're one of my best friends. I think I know you better than Nick Fury does. You're not some kind of killing machine, you're just a guy with some unfortunate anger issues. Lots of people have anger issues. You don't have to let that get in your way."

"Unfortunate anger issues? Is that what you're calling it? Tony, I have put people in the hospital before. I nearly murdered you over a bottle of water. That's not an anger issue. That's a monster." Bruce argued, striding across the room and sitting down on his bed, not trusting himself to stand near Tony while they held this debate.

"Look, we've all got our crosses to bear. You turn into Shrek when you get a little mad. That's not so bad. You want to hear about my problems? This morning, I yelled at Pepper because it was easier to be mad at her than it was to accept that this whole thing was my fault. I almost died of hypothermia in the woods today and I'm not sure I was even upset about dying at the time. Everyone at Stark Industries expects me to step up and act just like my father, but I have no idea what I'm doing and everyone knows it. Obe still kicks me out of important meetings like I'm some sort of child. And you know, since my parents died, I haven't cried once. Not  _once_. Don't you think that's strange? Even Pepper cried." Tony rambled, plopping down on the spare bed across the room from Bruce.

"At least you don't turn green." Bruce remarked, smiling sheepishly.

Tony looked at Bruce with a surprised expression before laughing. "Yeah, but I can't just smash all of my problems like you can."

"Pepper is probably thankful for that." Bruce responded with a laugh.

"Yeah, probably," Tony agreed, unable to help smiling at the conversation, "Shit. She's probably going to dump me the next time she sees me. Any ideas on how to go about doing damage control?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I have a feeling that Fury isn't going to use my scholarship to pay for the cost of repairing the dorm." Bruce mumbled, scratching the back of his head and smiling.

"Don't worry about that, bud. I'll see if I can get Stark Industries to make a low-cost contract with the school. There's nothing a billionaire orphan can't fix, right?" Tony joked with a smile that looked entirely too sad for Bruce's liking.

Suddenly, the sad smile was replaced with a genuine one. Tony's eyes lit up for some inexplicable reason. Bruce glanced behind him, wondering if he had left some kind of food lying around the room. When he didn't see any, he raised his eyebrows at Tony.

"I've got an idea." Tony explained hastily, leaping off of the bed and pacing around the room the way he always did when he was thinking through some kind of scheme. Bruce could feel the nerves welling up in his chest already.

"Why don't you move into Stark Towers?" The billionaire demanded, looking thrilled at the very idea.

Bruce immediately squashed the hope that was threatening to well up in his chest. He couldn't live with Tony; it was clear that the combination of someone as prone to uncontrollable rage as Bruce and someone as anger-inspiring as Tony was no good. If they lived together without S.H.I.E.L.D. regulations, Tony would be dead in a matter of hours. Bruce winced at the thought.

Sensing this, Tony snorted and rolled his eyes. "If you still think that you're going to fly off the handle and step on me, you can relax. I'll still be here at S.H.I.E.L.D. The shrink that Obe keeps sending into my office says that I need some time before I can live there full-time. You'd be all by yourself. I could even Hulk-proof the whole building."

"Tony, you don't have time for that." Bruce reminded his friend, dreading becoming even more of an imposition than he already was.

"Sure I do! Now that you're bailing out of the science program, I don't really have much reason to go to class anymore. I already know everything in the curriculum. I could stand to skip a few days from the office, too. I think human resources is trying to hunt me down, anyway. There was some mix-up about a comment I made about the  _printer_ , not a pregnant woman. I think you'll actually be keeping me out of trouble." Tony replied cheerfully.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Bruce asked cautiously.

"If I minded, I wouldn't have suggested it. I'm gonna go start the planning now. Selvig probably already knows that I'm not showing up; class started fifteen minutes ago. Hey, uh, is there anything that you haven't been able to tear apart before?" Tony questioned, striding towards the door before looking back at Bruce thoughtfully.

"Just that hammer of Thor's." Bruce responded with a shrug.

"Huh. Interesting. Alright, take it easy, Banner. Try not to spill any water on yourself while I'm gone." Tony teased, winking before exiting the room.

Bruce rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling to himself. He had been extremely worried about the way the Hulk was going to impact his friendship with Tony. After all, he had nearly killed the boy in the midst of his uncontrollable rage. But, being the unpredictable and completely strange creature that he was, Tony had risen above it all and had simply used it as an excuse to deepen their friendship. Typical.

* * *

Steve Rogers was walking towards his Calculus classroom, dreading the exam that he was positive would ruin his grade point average for all of eternity, when he suddenly saw Pepper Potts sitting on the ground, back against a locker with her head in her hands. He glanced in the direction of his classroom, then back at Pepper.

The smart thing to do would be to get to class. Everyone tended to ask the best questions and discuss the most valuable information right before the exam was handed out. The right thing to do, however, would be to ask Pepper if she was alright. She was the student body president, after all. She was the one who had helped Steve fundraise for new football equipment, reserved the fields for every practice, and had hosted a number of pasta dinners on nights before important games.

With an inward sigh, Steve turned away from the classroom and sat down next to Pepper. She lifted her head and looked Steve over curiously. It was clear that she had been crying. Steve had a sneaking suspicion that her tears had to do with the rumors going around school. Everyone was saying that Pepper Potts had stolen money out of the treasury in order to pay for her prom dress. Steve refused to even consider the stories anything more than rumors.

"Are you okay?" He asked, forcing himself to cast Pepper a reassuring smile despite the fact that he was currently in turmoil over his calculus test. He had six minutes to get into the classroom and prepare himself for the exam.

Pepper shrugged. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Um, I'm sorry, this is the worst. I really wasn't trying to be that cliche girl crying in between classes. You can go to class, I know you have that huge calculus exam." She said, rubbing her eyes with her sleeves and avoiding Steve's eyes.

Steve didn't bother asking how she knew about his exam. "It's alright, I'm probably going to fail it, anyway. Uh, so, do you want to talk about it? I mean, is it Stark? I know that he can be sort of a jerk…"

"No, it's not, I mean, he  _is_ , but it's just this horrible thing with the treasury. Oh, don't look so surprised, I know that everyone is talking about it. If they don't find out who stole the money soon, I don't know if they're even going to let me graduate." Pepper replied dismally.

"They're going to get it worked out," Steve assured her, "There's no way that you'll get blamed for this. Everyone knows that you didn't do it. You're Pepper Potts. You're as honest as it gets."

Pepper smiled at Steve, who immediately smiled back. He was pleased to see that he had said the right thing. He had never been great at cheering people up; Bucky was usually the one who took care of that.

"Well, thanks, Steve. Maybe you should be the dean of the school." Pepper remarked, brushing her bangs out of her face and laughing slightly.

"Nah, that wouldn't be a great idea. I can't even keep the football team in line; there's no way I could handle the whole school. It would be a disaster." Steve chuckled, running a hand through his hair before shaking his head.

"That's not true," Pepper insisted, placing a hand on Steve's arm reassuringly, "you're the best captain this school has had in years. Who else could get Clint Barton to catch a football instead of just letting it hit his face?"

"He swears he didn't hear you say 'heads up' when you threw that football at him, but that's happened to him before. He should really get his hearing checked. Anyway, I should probably go fail my calc test. Are you going to be okay?" Steve clarified, ducking his head slightly in order to get a better look at Pepper's face.

"I'm fine; go take your test. I'm sure you'll do a lot better than you think." Pepper replied, smiling back at the football player widely.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up." A voice snapped from down the hallway.

Both Pepper and Steve turned to see Tony standing just a few feet away. The billionaire did not look too amused. Steve's jaw clenched slightly. He should have known that Tony would show up just to put him down right before his test.

"Thanks for the talk, Pepper. I'll see you around. Stark, always a pleasure." Steve murmured, sparing Pepper one last smile before heading in the direction of his calculus classroom.

As he approached his classroom, he heard Pepper and Tony bickering in the background. From the sound of it, Tony was... _jealous_. Steve's eyebrows furrowed at the thought. He could not imagine what Tony Stark could possibly be jealous of. Steve had been talking to Pepper, yes, but only because she had been sitting on the ground in tears. He would have talked to anyone that had been in her place. Besides, Tony had dated countless other girls, Peggy included. If anything, Steve had a right to be jealous.

Sparing the bickering couple one last glance, Steve shrugged. He supposed Tony's jealousy was Tony's problem. He had a calculus exam to worry about.

* * *

"I cannot believe that this professor is qualified," Loki murmured as he leant back against his uncomfortable desk, "it has been a year since I have enrolled in the magic program and I have yet to learn a single thing."

"That's because you're already ahead of everyone here," Sarah Seacrest, the only magic-studying classmate that had bothered to get to know the lanky demi-god, whispered back, "some of us still don't know how to create illusions with just our mind, believe it or not."

Loki turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "No, I suppose you wouldn't know that. The educational system is appalling in that way. Perhaps you should practice on your own time."

"Are you offering to tutor me?" Sarah questioned, her tone sounding entirely too hopeful for Loki's liking.

"I am not," He responded immediately, "I have much more pressing matters than worrying about your progress. If I'm not mistaken, I should be viewing you as a competitor. Isn't there some sort of dry spell in the job market?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, we're really going to be roughing it. There are so many people applying for jobs involving magic."

Loki's eyes narrowed, but before he could think of a response to his classmate's obvious sarcasm, Professor Schmidt cleared his throat from the front of the room. It was evident that he was not entirely pleased.

"Mr. Odinson, is there something that you would like to share with the class?" He demanded in a thick German accent.

"Not particularly, no. Is there something that you would like to share?" Loki countered in a bored tone.

Professor Schmidt's eyes narrowed. "See me after class."

Loki mouth twitched into a smirk. He was confident that nothing would come of the discussion. Not only was he the most exceptionally talented student in the magic program; he had secured somewhat of an alliance with Tony Stark. He sat at the boy's lunch table and frequently used him as a barrier whenever Nicholas Fury was giving him too much trouble. He was just as untouchable as the billionaire himself.

The rest of class went by relatively slowly. Loki was frequently making comments, which were always met with sarcastic retorts from Sarah. It was not lost on the demi-god that the girl wanted his attention. Her pupils dilated to the size of planets whenever he met her constant stare. He could not imagine what she expected from him.

Finally, once the class was over, Loki lingered behind in order to talk to Professor Schmidt. He had a feeling that he knew what the discussion would pertain to. He would be instructed to pay attention, lose his arrogance, and stop chatting with classmates. One of those things would be much easier to do than the others. Sarah would be severely disappointed.

"Mr. Odinson," Schmidt drawled, shutting the classroom door.

Loki smirked. "Professor Schmidt."

"You are an exceptionally talented student. You know everything there is to know about magic history." Schmidt remarked, beginning to circle Loki with a smirk of his own.

Loki was a bit thrown by the compliment. "Thank you, sir."

"There is so much knowledge in that head of yours, so much power," Schmidt continued, still circling the lanky boy, "what one could do with that power...you are so above humanity."

Loki raised his eyebrows and took a step backwards, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable. Schmidt had a dangerously crazy look in his eyes; Loki had only seen that look in the eyes of enemies right before they made a fatally dangerous move. The demi-god began looking around the room for the most strategic escape route. He wondered if there was a subtle way of contacting Thor for assistance.

"I am a god." He reminded the professor feebly.

"You are; you have the power of the gods," Schmidt murmured, "what I wouldn't do to possess the power of the gods."

"You are speaking out of line." Loki warned, his fingers twitching in his pocket as his mind raced with a series of spells that might assist him in fending off his crazy professor.

Schmidt suddenly snatched the lanky demi-god's arm. "We could work together. Control the world. Rule humanity with the power of the gods."

Loki glared down at the hand on his arm, his eyebrows furrowing together. He quickly executed a spell that Frigga had taught him in his youth; one that made his exterior skin a scalding temperature. Within seconds, Schmidt released him, yelping in pain.

"Good day, professor." The demi-god growled, storming out of the room before the professor could make any other inappropriate statements.

While ruling humanity was a tempting proposition, Loki could not imagine sharing the glory with anyone else, especially someone that would only prove to be a burden to his power. Besides, he had the throne waiting for him in Asgard. Thor would have to die eventually, after all.

"That was a mistake, Odinson," Schmidt snarled in the boy's absence, "a mistake you will regret making."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten!**

On May 1st, a sunny Saturday morning, Steve Rogers woke up to the sound of Mrs. Barnes singing from the kitchen.

He sat up and stretched, taking a moment to look around the dimly lit basement. He had fallen asleep on the sofa in Bucky's basement at some point during poker night. Bucky was sprawled across the floor with a piece of pizza lying on his chest, while Peggy was curled up on the other side of the sofa. Steve smiled.

The peace only lasted for a few more seconds. Mrs. Barnes suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs with a wooden spoon and pot in hand and began banging the two together. Bucky and Peggy both sat up, clutching their heads and groaning in protest.

"Ma, we're up, we're up!" Bucky hollered, stuffing his face into a pillow.

"Good morning Mrs. Barnes!" Peggy added with a laugh.

"Oh, good, you're awake. James, could you please feed the cat? She has been pacing by the basement door for an hour now. Steve, honey, do you need a ride back to school?" Mrs. Barnes asked, bounding down the stairs and looking around at the occupants of the basement with a warm smile.

Steve nodded, grinning sheepishly. "That would be great, Mrs. Barnes, thanks."

"You're very welcome, sweetie! Breakfast is ready whenever you want it. James, I mean it about the cat. She's your responsibility." Mrs. Barnes said, pointing her wooden spoon in Bucky's direction before returning upstairs to the kitchen.

"Do you think I could get away with pretending not to remember the cat?" Bucky groaned, his voice muffled by his pillow.

Steve laughed. "No way; Beast was one of the first things you remembered on your own. Go feed your cat, Buck."

"Really, Bucky, you should be a more caring pet owner." Peggy agreed with an amused smile.

Bucky removed his face from the pillow in order to glare at Steve and Peggy through narrowed eyes. "You two just want to be alone in my basement."

Steve felt his face redden as he attempted to laugh off Bucky's comment. "Feed the cat."

"Mhm," Bucky muttered, tossing his pillow in Steve's direction and starting for the stairs, "I don't want anybody getting pregnant down here. That means keeping it in your pants, Rogers."

Steve and Peggy both laughed and blushed slightly as Bucky stomped up the stairs.

"I, uh, I'd apologize for him, but you knew what you were getting into when I invited you to poker night." Steve remarked, nodding in the direction of the stairs.

Peggy smiled and scooted closer to Steve on the couch. "I'm glad you invited me. Although...are you sure you don't mind me tagging along on all of your boys' nights? I'm sure Bucky wants to spend some one-on-one time with you before you go off and lead an army."

"I'm sure," Steve replied, wrapping an arm around Peggy's shoulder, "Bucky doesn't mind and neither do I."

"Are you positive?" Peggy questioned, still looking a bit uncertain.

"I am one-hundred percent positive," Steve answered with a grin, "and as much as I would love to tell you all of the ways that I do not mind your presence, I should probably go get dressed. I've got to get to graduation rehearsal before Fury throws my diploma in the shredder."

"That sounds like a decent enough plan. I think I'll go help Mrs. Barnes with breakfast while you change." Peggy responded, sliding off the couch.

"I'll meet you upstairs." Steve promised his girlfriend, ducking down for a brief peck on the lips before trudging in the direction of the clothes that had been allocated for his graduation rehearsal.

* * *

The auditorium was crowded and boiling hot as students began taking their seats for graduation rehearsal. Steve looked around for any sign of Natasha. They were supposed to sit together during graduation, after all. It was one of the perks of having a friend in the same alphabet range.

"Name?" One of the administrators running the check-in asked, staring at Steve expectantly.

"Oh, uh, Rogers. Steve Rogers." Steve replied, glancing at the administrator briefly before looking around for Natasha once more. She should have been seated by now; she had mentioned something about getting to the rehearsal early in order to avoid Sarah Seacrest. The girl had been tailing her for a few days, now.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rogers. You're not on this list." The administrator said, immediately snapping Steve's attention away from scanning the crowds.

"What?" Steve questioned, his face paling.

"It looks like you are not on track to graduate," The administrator explained, flipping through a file, "it appears that your...ah...your calculus grade is holding you back. Here is your grade summary. I'm sorry, Mr. Rogers, you'll have to wait in the library."

Steve's shoulders slumped. He knew that he had not done well on his last calculus exam, but he had assumed that the grade had at least been high enough to maintain his 'C' in the class. Evidently, he had been wrong. His gut wretched at the thought of telling Peggy, Bucky, Mrs. Barnes, and Natasha that he would be stuck in high school for another year. He had actually failed.

"Alright, uh, thanks." He mumbled, slinking off in the direction of the library.

He had no idea what he was going to do. He was supposed to graduate and join the army. Fury had promised to get him a high position. He was going to make a difference in the world, maybe even take a step towards world peace. Was calculus even necessary for his particular line of work? Steve could not imagine a scenario in which he would need to sit down and take the partial derivative of a linear equation.

By the time he reached the library, he was overwrought with anger. He was going to have to get almost a perfect score on his final to get out of high school. That was impossible. He would be amazed if he got a B at this point. He pushed the door open with an unnecessary amount of force, accidentally knocking the left door off one of its hinges.

"Steve? What are you doing here?" Natasha questioned, looking away from a nauseous-looking Clint in order to cast Steve an inquisitive stare.

Steve shrugged, hanging his head. "I was too busy watching Buck earlier in the semester to keep up with my calc class. Unless I pull an A on the final, there's no way I can manage a passing grade," He paused, staring at her thoughtfully, "What are you doing here? I mean, I know what you're doing here, Clint, but Nat?"

Natasha quirked a smile. "Flunking my communications class. Apparently I need to work on my people skills."

Steve couldn't resist a small smile of agreement.

"Wait a damn minute. I'm surrounded by idiots who can't even pass their core classes? Ugh. I've officially hit rock bottom." Tony Stark groaned from the back of the room, where he was surrounded by Pepper and Bruce.

Pepper glowered at her boyfriend while Bruce rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Steve arched an eyebrow, surveying the room curiously. In addition to Natasha, Clint, Tony, Bruce, and Pepper, there were even more unexpected members of the 'not graduating' club. Jane Foster was sulking alongside of Thor, Loki was sprawled across the length of two chairs looking thoroughly unamused while Darcy Lewis was sitting nearby, apparently attempting to stack as many books on Loki's legs as she could before he noticed.

"What are you all here for?" Steve couldn't resist asking.

"I, too, am experiencing difficulties in my classes." Thor admitted, not looking nearly as upset as Steve felt. Steve supposed that was normal. He was an exchange student, after all. He could not be the first student to struggle with adjusting to a new culture on top of receiving a rigorous course load.

Loki snorted from across the room. "I, for one, am not entirely surprised."

"Well, what're you here for?" Steve demanded, unable to refrain from glaring at the smaller boy. He had never forgiven Loki for the accident that had knocked the memory right out of his best friend.

Besides, Loki had no room to judge. Clearly his school year hadn't gone off without a hitch if he was sitting in the same room as the rest of them. There was nothing the demi-god should have felt smug about.

Loki smirked back in response, evidently unbothered by Steve's anger. "It seems that one of my professors has gone a bit mad with power. By forcing his presence upon me for another year, he is hoping to control me. I fear that he may be in over his head."

"What the hell? Which professor would want you for another year?" Darcy questioned, plopping a heavy textbook on the pile accumulating across Loki's long legs.

The lanky boy withdrew his legs, sending the stack of books tumbling to the floor. He glared at Darcy.

"Professor Schmidt." He explained curtly.

Tony and Bruce both looked up curiously.

"Schmidt? Why the fuck did you take Schmidt? Everyone knows that he's batshit crazy, even Fury! Didn't he get linked to a murder during junior year?" Tony inquired, looking around the room wildly.

Bruce nodded in grim agreement. "Even my advisor told me not to take him. He's a little unprofessional when it comes to talented students."

"Pray tell, Stark; what brings you to this hall of champions? I thought that you were the school's most sought-after asset. Surely Fury would not have allowed this had he known." Loki drawled.

Tony scowled. "It's just a mistake. It'll be sorted out by graduation, no need to worry your pretty little mind over it." The billionaire growled.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "I don't think the school can legally overlook fifty absences in one semester."

Tony glowered at her. "Want to talk about legal troubles, Miss Potts?"

Pepper glared back at her fuming boyfriend.

Clint smiled slightly. "It's nice to know there's a fellow delinquent here."

"It's...it's not really like that. I might still graduate once they find out who really took the money. Phil just had to do something until I could prove that I didn't take anything."

Darcy snorted. "Who would honestly believe that you would steal anything? I wish that I could just hunt down someone to take the blame for me. I'm stuck here 'cause -"

"I'm sorry -  _Phil_?" Tony interrupted, "Since when is he Phil? I thought his first name was 'mister'."

The room collectively rolled their eyes. Only Tony Stark would get jealous of Pepper's friendship with the school's vice principal.

"Why are you here, Darcy?" Steve asked, ignoring Tony.

Darcy shrugged with a small smile. She hadn't expected S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most popular student to realize that she had been overlooked mid-sentence. She could feel her cheeks reddening as he watched her with crystal eyes. Loki noticed and snorted. Jane pinched him before he could make a comment.

"I skipped too many detentions. Apparently they're mandatory." She explained, with an amused smile and shrug.

"Apparently getting 75 volunteer hours is mandatory, too." Jane sighed, leaning her head against Thor's shoulder in disappointment.

"You could do 75 volunteer hours before graduation. At least you've got something you can fix." Bruce stated with a sad smile.

"I think we've all got stuff we can fix," Steve speculated, beginning to smile, "Nat, you said that you were failing your communications class, right? With Mrs. Mandarin? She always gives a huge speech assignment at the end of the semester to boost grades. I got an A on my speech last year; I could probably help you write yours. You get an A on that, you'll pass, easy."

Natasha nodded, beginning to understand her best friend's thought process. "Right, yeah, and I'm pretty good with computers. I could probably find the person who actually stole the money from the treasury."

Pepper's eyes lit up. "And I still have access to all of the school's records. I could probably eliminate some of Tony's absences."

Tony glanced around the room dismally. At length, he shrugged. "I guess I could teach Rogers some basic calculus."

The room was silent for a moment before Clint glanced around and spoke up. "I, uh, I could probably sneak into Coulson's office and get Darcy off the hook for a few of her missed detentions. I've done it a few times for myself." He offered with a sheepish smile.

"I could probably impersonate an attorney and get you out of the trespassing charges." Darcy remarked brightly.

"I could get you a realistic license to practice law in New York," Clint responded with a chuckle, "I wouldn't be any worse off with one of the school attorneys."

"I could tutor Thor. I've taken most of the classes that he's having trouble with. I don't think it will take too much work. He learns pretty fast." Jane commented, smiling at her boyfriend affectionately.

"And I would be more than happy to assist you with your volunteer work. Perhaps I would be able to attain signatures in your name." Thor offered with a broad smile.

Everyone was quiet for a minute or two. They were all looking at Loki and Bruce, wondering just how they could possibly alleviate their respective issues. There was no telling how Professor Schmidt could be fended off, and everyone was relatively certain that Bruce's anger issues could not be fixed in the two weeks they each had before graduation.

"I believe I have the resources to quell the beast that resides within Bruce Banner," Loki stated at length, "but before I do so, he must torment Professor Schmidt into allowing me to graduate with a perfect grade point average."

Bruce sighed. He did not like the idea of releasing the Hulk for his own personal gains, but at this point, he didn't have much choice. He let out another loud sigh. "Fine."

* * *

"Alright, how are we going to pull this off? Fury isn't allowing any student gatherings surpassing four students after what happened with Bruce. I would suggest subcommittees, but from the sound of it, we're all too connected." Natasha sighed.

"She's right. Mr. Fury would give us separate detentions if we tried to meet every night. He'd think we were in a cult." Jane agreed, frowning at the ground while the rest of the group mulled over the topic at hand.

"Wait a minute. What's the closest thing this school has to a cult?" Steve asked, looking around the room with bright eyes.

"The Fellowship of Christian athletes club?" Tony offered.

Pepper shot her boyfriend a dirty look. "I don't think that's what Steve meant."

Tony shrugged sheepishly.

Steve shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. "Actually, that is sort of what I meant."

He received wide-eyed stares from around the room.

"I don't mean the religion part, of course. I'm fine with religion," He amended, his ears reddening slightly, "I was talking about the club part."

Pepper's eyes lit up at Steve's explanation. "Of course! No groups larger than four persons are allowed to assemble, with the sole exception of teams and clubs. That's genius, Steve!"

Tony laughed, rolling his eyes. "Those are words I never thought I'd hear anyone say."

Steve's eyes narrowed.

Bruce quickly interjected. "What if someone tried to join our club? We couldn't risk the time it would take to throw everyone off of our trail."

Steve nodded, pointing to Bruce as though he had answered his own question. "You're right. We would have to make a club that no one else would want to join. What are some things everyone hates around here?"

"Tony." Darcy offered.

"Darcy." Tony countered.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "We could say it's a book club."

Natasha shook her head. "No, there would be a few students looking to join. The world isn't illiterate yet."

"Archery?" Thor suggested with a playful grin in Clint's direction.

"Hammers?" Clint grumbled good-naturedly, pretending to glare at Thor.

"How about proper grammar? You all seem void of it." Loki drawled, his cat-like eyes studying the room.

There was a pause.

"That's actually a really good idea. Nobody at this school will want to pick apart entire novels just for the sake of finding grammatical errors for fun. This could work." Jane commented, staring at Loki in surprise.

"So, what, we're just going to go to Fury and tell him that we've all bonded over our love of participial phrases and have decided to spend our spare time creating a club instead of fighting for graduation?" Tony demanded, looking around in disbelief.

Steve shrugged. "As far as Mr. Fury knows, we've all accepted our fates. He could just perceive this as our way of coping."

Bruce nodded, chewing his thumb nail thoughtfully. "It's the best shot we have, Stark. So, who should pitch the idea for the club?"

* * *

"Mr. Fury, can we speak to you for a moment?" Jane inquired in the most polite voice she could muster. Loki nodded at her in an almost-effort to reassure her that the plan would work out.

Nick Fury turned to give the pair a dispassionate glare before allowing them to continue.

"We want to start a club." Jane blurted out.

Fury's eye shifted to Loki, gleaming with curiosity. The demi-god squirmed under the dean's stare, but forced himself to employ the most sincere smile he could manage.

"You two?" Fury asked, his eye flicking from Loki, to Jane, and back to Loki once more, "What kind of club?"

"A, um, a grammar club. It's just that, well, I'm really bad at grammar, and Loki is so great at it. We thought it would be selfish to keep the tutoring sessions to ourselves, so here we are." Jane rambled anxiously, casting Loki nervous glances as she spoke.

"A grammar club? You two want to start a grammar club?" The dean clarified, his eyebrows furrowing in disbelief.

"That is correct. Are we not coinciding with the proper rules of this establishment?" Loki questioned, locking eyes with the dean in a challenging manner.

Fury glared back. "No, I think that's well within the rules, I'm just not sure it's in either of your best interests. Don't you have bigger problems than learning grammar right now?"

Jane shrugged with a small smile. "I think that learning grammar is a little bit more attainable. So, what do you say, Mr. Fury? Do you think we can start holding meetings?"

Fury blinked before waving off Jane's question carelessly. "Sure, go ahead. I don't really care what you do so long as the school is still standing when you're done. Fill out the club application sheet in the office and return it to Coulson by the end of the week."

Jane grinned openly while Loki opted to remain cool and aloof. Before the girl had the opportunity to say something careless or obvious, Loki managed to shepherd her out of the hallways and towards the dorms once again. Nick Fury watched the interaction with a great deal of interest.

With one last glance at the two fleeing students, the dean approached the vice principal's door and knocked abruptly, not waiting for an answer before opening the door and gliding into the neat little office.

"Director Fury, what can I do for you?" Coulson asked eagerly, immediately pushing aside the paperwork he had been sifting through.

Fury scowled. "Coulson, I told you not to call me that here. I'm just the dean in this school. Don't want to scare the kids more than I already do."

Coulson nodded vigorously, to the point where Fury wondered how his head stayed attached to his shoulders.

"Anyway," Fury murmured, tossing a glance at Coulson's closed door, as though he expected someone to be waiting on the other side of it, "I have a task for you, Coulson."

The vice principal sat up immediately. "What is it?"

"I want you to keep an eye on the grammar club."

"The grammar club, sir?"

Fury quirked a smile. "Jane Foster and Loki Odinson just approached me with the idea. Apparently Jane needs help with her grammar. This is it."

Coulson's eyebrows shot up. "Jane and Loki? But director," He coughed nervously, " _dean_ , they're not involved in-"

Fury held up a hand, effectively silencing the vice principal, "They are now."

* * *

"Alright, the first official grammar club meeting is in order. So, what's new with you guys? Did anybody read any particularly inspiring quotes off of pinterest today?" Tony joked as the rest of the group found seats on empty desks scattered around the deserted classroom.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Save it, Stark. We've got a lot to do and not a lot of time. Uh, okay, where should we start?"

"We should start with those who need tutoring. Finals are only two weeks away and learning entire subjects is not going to be easy." Bruce replied, casting a nervous glance around the room.

Tony rolled his eyes. "That means you, Cap. C'mon, might as well get started. Who knows how long it's going to take you to get integrals."

Steve scowled. "I don't know Stark, it might be too overwhelming for me. Hang on, don't get up to walk away. I don't know how I'll be able to find you. Cluttered rooms confuse me."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Leave the sarcasm to me. You're not doing it any favors."

Steve shrugged, following the genius to the corner of the room, where they wouldn't be distracted by the rest of the group. "Says the guy who only uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism."

"Big words; I'm impressed." Tony bit back.

The rest of the group spared the boys exasperated stares before continuing with their respective projects.

"What am I supposed to do? Steve said he'd help me with my communications class." Natasha demanded, glancing at Bruce critically, as though he were personally responsible for Steve's current occupation.

"Help Pepper convince the student body that she didn't steal anything." The curly-haired boy replied, nodded towards Pepper, who smiled awkwardly.

"Great. Okay, Potts, let's go talk to the student body. I have a feeling that there are going to be more than a few stubborn cases. Do you have any idea who started the rumors about you?" Natasha asked, slinging her book bag over her shoulder and glancing at Pepper inquisitively.

Pepper shook her head, gathering up her belongings before following the redhead out of the classroom nervously.

"I'll start tutoring Thor. What subject do you want to start with first?" Jane asked, sparing her beau a quick glance before guiding him to the other corner of the room, where Thor wouldn't be distracted by the biting comments that Steve and Tony were flinging at each other.

The four remaining students looked at each other curiously.

"What time is it?" Clint inquired, breaking the silence.

Bruce looked down at his watch automatically. "Five o'clock."

Clint frowned. "Damn it. Coulson won't be out of his office until seven. Looks like you're stuck helping me out, Darcy."

Darcy snapped her finger in mock disappointment before snatching the manila folder that had been resting on Clint's desk. "This is the information for the court case? Holy shit, where did half of these statements even come from? Is this a fake alias? That means I get to impeach a witness! This is going to be fun!"

Bruce smiled slightly before turning to look at Loki nervously. He hadn't been entirely thrilled about receiving the god of mischief as a partner in their quirky project. Still, Loki was the only one even remotely capable of stopping the other guy. It was at least worth a shot.

"Well, Banner," The demi-god started, sparing the anxious boy an insincere smile, "while I am looking forward to your end of our deal, I am disposed to believe that taking actions against Professor Schmidt at this time would only injure your chances of graduating further. Instead, I believe that our current time should be spent researching spells that could assist you."

Bruce swallowed hard, nodding. As he got up to follow the lanky boy to the library, his mind flashed a warning: this was the same student whose plan had put Steve Rogers' best friend in the hospital. This was the guy who had thrown Tony out of a window with a smile on his face. This was who he was trusting with his future. This was a terrible idea.

* * *

"Stark, this isn't helping." Steve muttered, running a hand through his hair as he stared down at the paper Tony had handed him.

"How is it not helping? Everything you need to know is right there! Do you need me to solve the equation for you again?" Tony demanded thickly, snatching the piece of paper from Steve so quickly that the corner ripped.

Steve shook his head. "No, I don't want to watch you sit here and solve every problem in the book. That's not going to help me learn! I need you to explain why the variable is shifted from the numerator to the denominator. I need to at least try to do this myself, unless you're planning on taking my calc final for me."

Tony groaned, slamming his head on the desk in frustration. "How the hell do you not understand why the variable shifted? That's basic algebra."

"This is not algebra," Steve responded, glowering at Tony before shifting his dark gaze to the textbook sitting in front of the pair, "this is a nervous breakdown waiting to happen. Why do you want to do this stuff for the rest of your life?"

Tony's eyes narrowed. "I think it might be just a little more gratifying than running around in some uniform preaching the virtues of a government that only tells you the truth about ten percent of the time."

"Oh, you're all about the truth, aren't you, Stark? Have you told Pepper about Peggy?" Steve snarled, his upper lip curling in disgust.

Tony glowered back at Steve. "Pepper knows enough about my history to know it isn't perfect. She knows that I've dated a lot of girls. Their names aren't important to her."

"You don't know that," Steve challenged, "Pepper may have forgiven you for all of the other girls, but that was only because you dehumanized them when you talked about them. She knows Peggy. She met her at the games. She  _likes_  Peggy. Maybe she'd be just as disgusted with you as I am."

"You're crazy if you think that I'm going to let you ruin my relationship with Pepper. I would kill you before I would give you even the smallest chance to take her from me." The billionaire replied through gritted teeth.

Steve glared back at Tony. "I'm not trying to take your girlfriend. Although, she could do a lot better."

Tony let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, what, like you? Yeah, right. You're a joke, Rogers. The only reason Peggy agreed to go out with you is because I didn't want her. I hope you're enjoying my leftovers."

Without thinking, Steve launched himself at the shorter boy. He only got a few fair punches in before Thor and Clint intervened and separated the two. Steve didn't struggle against Thor's tight grip; he simply continued to glare at Tony while attempting to regulate his breathing once more. Tony, on the other hand, was struggling and bickering with Clint to no avail. The billionaire didn't seem to notice that his nose was bleeding.

"You guys have got to be joking. We're two weeks away from graduation and you're fighting? Y'know, maybe Fury is right about the both of you. Steve, with the way you're acting, I wouldn't put you in charge of an army of eight year-olds with water guns. Stark, I wouldn't let you run a company if you paid me a million dollars. I wouldn't even let the two of you loose on society. Not for all the money in the world." Clint snapped, casting both of the boys a dark look.

Steve hung his head while Tony scowled. Neither objected to the lecture. Neither moved to make amends with each other, either.

"You don't have to like each other to work this out," Clint continued when he realized that neither of the boys were going to fix the situation if he didn't, "hell, you can dream about killing each other each and every night if you really want to. But until each and every one of us walk across that damn stage, you're not going to do anything about it. Now, Stark, you're going to sit your ass down and explain why you moved the variable. Steve, you're not going to turn into a sarcastic son of a bitch whenever Tony gets on your nerves. And for Christ's sake, neither of you are ever going to put me in a position where I have to be the responsible one again. Got it?"

Both boys nodded sullenly, staring at each other with sulky scowls before picking up the desks they had knocked over and returning to their seats. Tony murmured a half-hearted explanation equipped with drawings and notes, while Steve stared down at the paper with furrowed brows.

After he was done the explanation and after Steve had proved that he at least understood the concept well enough to imitate it on a mock exam, Tony scribbled something in Steve's notebook, not meeting the football player's eyes as he did so.

Steve glanced down inquisitively, wondering if Tony was going to attempt to teach him two chapters of calculus in one afternoon. He wasn't entirely surprised when the handwriting indicated that the genius was doing something completely different.

_I still hate you._

The corner of Steve's mouth twitched into a smile at the written words. It was almost comical how immature Tony Stark could be. Still, Steve couldn't deny himself a similar lack of maturity.

_I hate you too._

* * *

"What exactly are we trying to do?" Pepper asked, glancing around anxiously as Natasha guided her through the deserted hallways of S.H.I.E.L.D. High.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "We're trying to figure out who spread the rumors about you. Once we do that, we can use our culprits to track down the money and return it to the school. Fury can't stop you from graduating once you prove that you haven't done anything wrong."

"Right," Pepper agreed, quickening her pace to keep up with Natasha's long strides, "but what if we can't find who did it? I've already checked all of the databases and I've asked everyone in the student government to find out everything they can. Whoever stole the money was really thorough."

"Of course they were thorough. This isn't your run-of-the-mill public high school. Half of the students here are trained to be able to make their movements virtually untraceable. How did you get into this school again?" The redhead asked with an exasperated sigh, making a sharp turn down the hallway towards the boys' dorm room.

"Tony." Pepper replied reluctantly.

"Oh, right, the whole be-his-secretary deal. Why'd you agree to that, anyway?"

"It really wasn't that bad. Besides, it was my only way into this school. What else was I supposed to do?"

"You would have been alright in public school."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "No, I really wouldn't have. I couldn't have gotten into Yale if I went to just any old school."

"Yes you could. You're Pepper Potts: president of every club and straight A student. What do you want to study in Yale, anyway? Secretary training?"

"Business administration."

"Same thing."

Pepper scowled. "So who are we talking to first?"

Natasha smirked as they entered the freshman hallway of the boys' dorm. "Him."

Pepper followed Natasha's gaze to a scrawny boy who was sitting all by himself. The rest of the occupants of the common room seemed unaware of his existence. Pepper arched an eyebrow, wondering if she had made the right decision in trusting Natasha.

"Him?" Pepper asked skeptically.

"Of course," Natasha hissed back as they crossed the room towards the boy, "the popular ones never know what's going on; they're too self-absorbed to worry about anyone else. The shy ones always know everything that happens in this school. They're the only ones who bother to listen."

Pepper nodded her head thoughtfully as the girls came to a halt in front of the lanky boy. He peered up at them incredulously through oversized glasses. Pepper could not imagine that this boy knew anything about the stolen money.

"Parker," Natasha greeted the boy suspiciously, "you know Pepper Potts."

"No, I don't think we've -" Pepper was silenced by Natasha, who held up a hand.

"Right, yeah, uh, hi, Pepper." The boy stammered, squirming in his seat miserably.

"And you know about the missing money." Natasha prompted, leaning closer to him.

The boy looked as though he was already on the brink of tears. "Yeah, I-I read it in the school newspaper. M-Mr. Jameson w-wouldn't stop talking about it."

Natasha folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows. "Is he the only person who was talking about it?"

"I have to do my homework." The boy squeaked, his eyes widening in panic.

"Oh, no you don't. Your only class tomorrow is photography. Mrs. Jackson never assigns homework. I'm going to find out who took the money one way or the other, Peter. Do you want to be on my good side or my bad side when I do?" Natasha asked in a dangerously soft tone.

The boy - Peter - looked from Pepper to Natasha before sagging his shoulders and taking a few big, shaky breaths. Pepper looked at Natasha in surprise. Natasha didn't bat an eyelash as she continued to stare at the nervous boy sitting before them.

"I-I-I really don't know who has the money," Peter mumbled, toying with his phone in an effort to avoid Natasha's stare, "but I heard that some of the computer science kids got involved. They were talking about how weak the bank's firewall is during lunch on Thursday."

"The computer science kids," Natasha mused with a nod, apparently satisfied with the information, "It's a start."

* * *

"See? They can't take away your diploma if you haven't been indicted yet. That means you have some options left. You could either beg the judge to schedule your court date later - which probably wouldn't be too hard to do - or you could show up with your fabulous legal advisor and walk away free the very same day." Darcy said, pointing to a small section of the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. student handbook.

Clint ran a hand through his hair. "Will you be offended if I postpone the court date?"

"100%, I will never look at you as a friend again." Darcy replied automatically.

"Fine," Clint sighed, leaning back in his chair, "I guess you'd better get me out of this, then. I don't know if there's a way to do that. I was trespassing and there's a lot of evidence that proves it."

Darcy shrugged with a smile. "Barely. They have footprints and a security camera with shitty quality. I don't think the owner of the property will even mention the security footage, considering it also shows how he shot at you and Nat before identifying you."

"He says it was self-defense. Judges still go for that kind of thing." Clint argued, his brows furrowing slightly.

Darcy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "International Claims judges don't. Even if they did; it's perfectly clear that you weren't anywhere near him. Your back was completely turned. Now we just have to work on proving your innocence."

"You want me to lie to a jury? Darcy Lewis, are you sure that you should be saying this out loud?" Clint asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling slightly.

"Not at all," Darcy replied with a wide smile, "we don't have to prove that you were anywhere else, we just have to make sure that the prosecutor can't prove that you were on his property. Innocent until proven guilty, right?"

Clint nodded, still looking rather confused. "How are we going to do that?"

"Well, first and importantly; I get to impeach some serious witnesses." Darcy grinned.

* * *

Bruce couldn't shake the nerves coursing through his veins as he walked alongside of Loki, silently reminding himself that trusting the god of mischief to help him with his little problem was likely not the wisest decision that he had ever made. Granted, it was not the dumbest decision either, but it was certainly in the top 10.

"I am not here to harm you, Banner." Loki sighed as though reading the mop-headed boy's mind.

Bruce glanced at him in surprise. He hadn't said anything, had he? He had made an active effort to avoid showing how uncomfortable he was around the demi-god. Loki rolled his eyes and sneered.

"You look as though you are about to jump straight out of your skin. I do not have ill will towards you, nor would I consider it in my best interest to provoke the mindless beast residing within you. I want nothing more than to escape this hell that you Midgardians refer to ask 'high school'." Loki asserted, still sneering.

Bruce smiled half-heartedly. "I think we all do."

Loki nodded slightly, but remained silent.

Unable to sit with the stifling silence for too long, Bruce spoke up once again. "Do you really think that you can reverse this? I mean, the other guy, would you just...?"

Loki's eyebrows knit together. "I do not know if I could do away with your demon altogether. That would involve very advanced magic, as well as breaking a number of laws, Asgardian and Midgardian alike. I may, however, be able to modify the conditions of the beast's appearance."

"What do you mean? It has to do with my heart rate. Are you going to find a way to raise the thresh hold?" Bruce questioned, his nerves replaced by curiosity. He was always eager to hear and witness the advanced discoveries of Asgardians. It seemed like they were centuries ahead of the human race.

Loki glanced at Bruce, sparing him a patronizing smile. "In so many words, yes. Unless your life is endangered, the monster will remain in its cage. You will still remain impossible to kill - the only way to modify that would be to kill the beast itself - but you will have much more control over yourself. That is what you want, is it not?"

"I'd like the option of dying, but this is the next best thing," Bruce nodded with a shrug, "Do you think that Fury would let me graduate if I could just prove that I'm more stable?"

"I cannot pretend to understand the way the dean's mind operates. He is a strange man with even stranger protocols." Loki answered with a glance at the doors of the library, which immediately flicked open.

Bruce pretended that he was perfectly acclimated with magic like Loki's, but couldn't help wondering about the physics behind it all. Was it a constant force? What if the door had been opened just seconds before he had opened it? Would the person standing behind the door get knocked down by the inevitable force?

"Hi guys," Sarah Seacrest said as Loki and Bruce started for the section on magic, "you're here late."

"Oh, uh, hey, Sarah. We're just, uh, we're in the grammar club, so we're picking up a few books to go over. You know, boring stuff." Bruce explained hastily, his face reddening as both Sarah and Loki watched him with blank expressions.

Loki cleared his throat and gave a slight nod. "Yes, we are searching for a mistake-riddled book, as Banner has so eloquently explained. I seem to recall a few books in particular that I was forced to read for my studies. We do not need your assistance. Excuse us."

"Oh. Um, yeah, okay. Hey, you know, I like grammar too. Is the club open for anyone to join?" Sarah asked hopefully, casting the warmest smile she could muster in Loki's direction.

"No." Loki responded immediately, not bothering to turn around as he guided Bruce towards the magic section.

"You could have been nicer to her. I think she likes you." Bruce murmured as the pair scoured the numerous aisles for whatever book it was that Loki needed.

Loki snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am perfectly aware. She follows me through the halls of S.H.I.E.L.D. as though she were my shadow. I have neither the interest nor the time to pursue her further."

Bruce opened his mouth to object, but promptly shut it once again. He would feel guilty pushing Loki towards poor, unsuspecting Sarah. She was likely looking for an attentive and charming date. Loki would undoubtedly go out of his way to be neither of those things. Thinking better of meddling in the demi-god's romantic affairs, he began to look at the book titles more closely.

"The Virtues of a Burning Witch..." The mop-headed boy read under his breath, his eyebrows furrowing as his brain worked to process the meaning behind the simple string of words, "Loki, are you sure that we should be -"

"Ah, here it is," The demi-god interrupted, oblivious to Bruce's concerns, "I read this over winter break; Darcy was being particularly irritating that evening, so I cannot recall the exact details of the spell, nor can I warn you of the side-effects at present, but if my memory serves as I know it shall, this will assist you in controlling the mindless beast. It was created by my mother, Frigga. I trust it implicitly."

"Your mom can do, uh, that stuff too?" Bruce asked. He had not heard much about the Odinson's parents through the grapevine of the school, but had always been curious to hear about the foreign king and queen. From what he had heard from Darcy, Loki's father was sort of a dick. Bruce could sympathize with that.

Loki nodded, not looking away from the yellowed pages of the book. "She had to sedate a beast that could not be held by any chains or cages - Fenrir. Thor nearly drove himself mad working night and day to build the perfect set of chains. Leave it to Thor to use brute force instead of rational decision-making."

"Fenrir...I think Darcy might have mentioned that name before." Bruce speculated.

Loki rolled his eyes, still not looking away from the book. "That would not surprise me in the least. She is very preoccupied with Asgardian tales and rumors."

"I think she said that you...gave... _birth_...to a, uh, well, a wolf named Fenrir..." Bruce stammered awkwardly, feeling his face redden as he realized how ridiculous he sounded.

Loki clenched his jaw, snapping the book shut abruptly.

"I am going to slaughter Sif." He growled, striding past Bruce in the direction of the exit.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven!**

"Coulson, what is the status of the grammar club?" Nick Fury inquired one brisk Monday morning, walking into the vice principal's office, slamming the door shut behind him, and plopping down in one of the comfortable seats parallel to Phil Coulson's desk.

Coulson smiled as though he had been waiting for this particular conversation all morning. "They are fully operational, sir. At this rate, they might actually graduate on time. Barton's trial is this afternoon, Rogers has turned in a flawless extra credit project for Calculus, and Thor's professors have been talking about how quickly he's improving."

"Hm," Fury murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "what about Banner and Loki? Any progress there?"

"Not yet. According to Maria Hill, they have been spending a large amount of time in the library together." Coulson answered promptly.

"What does Hill know about the Avengers initiative?" Fury demanded, glancing around the room as though he expected someone to be spying.

"Absolutely nothing, sir," Coulson replied hastily, "she was discussing their behavior with Sarah Seacrest early yesterday afternoon. Neither of the girls suspect a thing."

"Good," Fury approved, nodding his head, "let's keep it that way."

"Yes, sir." Coulson readily agreed.

Fury remained in the chair for a moment, just silently stroking his chin. Coulson looked about the room, uncomfortable with the uneasy silence. He had paperwork to do, but did not want to shoo the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. out of his office.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?" He asked awkwardly.

Fury blinked, looking mildly surprised that Coulson had spoken. His facial features quickly adjusted into the blank stare that he generally wore.

"Yeah," He began slowly, his eyebrows furrowing just slightly, "how is Mr. Barnes progressing?"

* * *

The grammar club was going well. That was what the student body - and the majority of professors - heard, anyway. The members had already risen to prominence by resubmitting a number of manuscripts to publishers, flawlessly correcting a series of complex grammatical errors. They would all surely get into the best colleges in the world once they finally managed to pass high school.

Of course, the titles and awards that the school was so proud of were entirely fake. Tony had called in a few favors with one of the publishers that his father had donated so heavily to, Pepper had procured a number of official-looking plaques and certificates, and Darcy had bragged loudly enough for everyone to become grossly aware of their 'success'.

The grammar club was fully operational, no one could deny that.

"Can you get me out of these absences or not?" Tony Stark whined, leaning back in his chair as Pepper scoured the student handbook while sitting across from him.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course I can, but I'm trying to see if there's a way to do it without breaking a hundred rules first. I already have one scandal on my hands; I really don't need another."

"I don't see why there's an attendance policy, anyway," Tony sulked, folding his arms across his chest and looking around the room stubbornly, "Most of the time I don't even learn anything in class. Meanwhile, Thor's never missed a class and he's failing almost everything."

Pepper swatted her boyfriend's arm as the Norse god in question turned around after hearing his name.

"He's a foreign exchange student," She whispered, not wanting to offend Thor by talking about him too loudly, "he's in an entirely new culture with entirely new systems. It's amazing that he's done as well as he has, if you ask me. How do you think you would do on an Asgardian test?"

"I would get the highest score possible." Tony asserted.

"They would think that you were an idiot," Pepper retorted, rolling her eyes and refocusing on the student handbook, "ah, okay, here it is. Well, it's not against the rules for the student body president to enter the administrative office even after the administrators have gone home. Oh, and I can modify files as needed. So I guess it isn't technically breaking any rules to go into the office and change your numbers to something a little more reasonable."

"Alright, what are we waiting for?" Tony asked, a grin sliding across his face as he leapt out of his chair, eager to delete his absence count; the one small number that was keeping him from walking across the stage with everybody else.

Pepper rolled her eyes again. "We're waiting for seven o'clock. If we go to the office right now, Coulson will be there. I don't know if he would agree that your attendance records need to be modified, do you?"

Tony let out an annoyed huff. "So, seven, then?"

Pepper nodded. "We'll go right after dinner. Now why don't you make up some sort of study guide for Steve? I think he's almost done looking over Natasha's speech."

* * *

"Your honor, I object!" Darcy hollered for what must have been - at the very least - the hundredth time.

The occupants of the court room groaned in unison.

"On what grounds do you object now, Ms. Lewis?" The judge asked, his voice dripping with exasperation.

Darcy shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. She was clearly enjoying playing the part of Clint's lawyer very much. Clint couldn't help but grin along with his ridiculous legal counsel. The entire case was beginning to seem like one huge joke.

"He was leading the witness." She answered, biting her lip and hoping that she had selected the correct reason for objecting this time.

The prosecution attorney let out an annoyed huff and gestured towards his witness angrily. "Your honor, I was confirming his name and address for the court!"

"And it is a fake alias!" Darcy proclaimed triumphantly.

"I've lived there for twenty years!" The old man asserted, his brows furrowing as he turned to look at the judge for some sort of reinforcement.

Darcy's hands settled on her waist. "How do I know that you aren't lying, Mr. John Parson? For all I know, you might be Canadian."

"He took an oath; we assume that witnesses are telling the truth until the facts show otherwise. Your honor, are you sure that this woman is licensed to practice law?" The prosecution attorney demanded angrily.

Darcy flashed the license that Clint and Loki had procured for her just a few weeks ago. "How dare you! I am a degree-holding, suit-wearing, brunch-eating bona-fide lawyer, just like you. Is this because I'm a woman? Your honor, I will not stand for sexism in this courthouse!"

"I wasn't being sexist, I just - " The prosecution attorney tried to argue in vain.

"I move to impeach the prosecutor." Darcy interrupted, pointing at the prosecution attorney in mock anger.

"Ms. Lewis - " the judge tried to protest, hoping to gain some order in his court.

"Your honor!" Darcy replied, focusing on the exhausted judge.

The judge sighed and hung his head. "Why don't we send the jury to vote on the matter? Jury, your decision must be made unanimously. Mr. Bayner, if you would have a seat."

The prosecution attorney - Mr. Charles Bayner, the best lawyer in New York City - looked thoroughly outraged. Darcy smirked as he stepped forward to object.

"I haven't even gotten to question my second witness." Bayner reminded the judge.

Darcy frowned. "I thought I just impeached him for being Canadian."

The judge let out a sigh and waved the jury in the direction of the back room where they would make their decision. Darcy smiled triumphantly and returned to Clint's side.

"I can't believe that worked. Holy shit. You just annoyed them into giving up on the case." Clint remarked, staring at Darcy through wide eyes.

Darcy laughed and nodded her head. "I know! And I got to impeach a Canadian. What a productive day."

"If you get me out of this, I'll marry you." Clint chuckled, shaking his head.

"Well," Darcy responded, biting her lip and glancing across the court room as though she was really considering his offer, "I don't really want to  _marry_  you. Natasha would kill me, Loki would probably realize that he is desperately in love with me and get totally jealous and kill you, and even if I did marry you, it wouldn't last. I would laugh every time you took your shirt off. Why don't you just wipe all records of the detention I've missed and we'll call it even?"

"Deal." Clint grinned, outstretching his hand and shaking Darcy's hand.

The jury entered the room moments later, each of them fixing a dark stare on Darcy. She smiled back at them sweetly, knowing that they would much rather deliver a 'not guilty' sentence on a trivial trespassing lawsuit than risk having to sit through yet another case if Darcy opted to appeal their decision. Sure enough, within moments, after a long and rambled speech, the words 'not guilty' emerged from the speaker's mouth.

"Hell yeah!" Clint and Darcy crowed immediately.

Before the judge could call for order in the court, Darcy launched herself into the air, managing to land on Clint's back with her arms around his neck and her legs around his chest. Clint didn't seem to mind; he shifted his arms to support her legs and immediately sprinted out of the court room with his attorney in tow. Neither of them were particularly concerned with how unprofessional it was for a lawyer to receive a piggyback from a client. After all, Darcy was not a lawyer and Clint was no longer on trial. They were just two kids that much closer to graduating high school.

"Jesus, that was great. Do you think I could get into law school? I think I want to be a lawyer now." Clint speculated after setting Darcy down. The pair began walking in the direction of the bus stop, beaming and bumping into each other good-naturedly as they walked.

Darcy chewed her lip thoughtfully. "No, I don't think you have it in you. Law schools would probably tell you to leave the second you showed up for an interview."

"Damn," Clint sighed, shaking his head, "Alright, what about if I hooked up with the dean of Harvard's law school? Think they'd accept me, then?"

"Why would thirty seconds of disappointment change their minds?" Darcy inquired, arching an eyebrow and forcing herself to look confused.

"Oh, fuck you." Clint responded, trying to glare at Darcy.

"You might have to get in line." Darcy winked.

"Hm," Clint murmured, starting to smile, "Yeah, you're talking to Loki, aren't you?"

"Not actively, but yes, we do speak to each other. Good of you to notice." Darcy answered.

Clint rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't mean talking, I mean  _talking_. Have you guys...you know...?"

"Oh, god, ew. No. Absolutely not," Darcy's nose wrinkled at the thought. She shook her head vigorously. "Loki is literally the last person on this planet that I would consider  _talking_  to."

"You sure?" Clint asked with a playful grin.

Darcy shook her head again for good measure, then looked at Clint thoughtfully. "You know, you seem super concerned about it. How do I know that you're not  _talking_  to Loki."

Clint burst out laughing. "Me and Odinson? Seriously? I don't know if I've ever even spoken to the guy."

"I could set you up, if you'd like." Darcy offered with a wide smile.

"I think Nat might kill me. Speaking of Nat, we should probably get back to the school. She told me that she was trapped with Steve, Bucky, and Peggy back at school. She might kill them if we leave her alone too long." Clint commented as the bus arrived at the stop.

Darcy laughed. "Fine by me. The cafeteria is having make-you-own quesadillas tonight. With any luck, we'll get there before Thor gets in line."

* * *

"So in conclusion, toddlers in tiaras is an extremely upsetting concept and the parents should all be put in a human zoo for sixty years as a punishment." Natasha stated, smiling at Steve, Bucky, and Peggy as she finished the lengthy speech that she had written for her communications course.

"Great job, Nat. But, uh, maybe leave the punishment part out." Steve suggested with an encouraging smile.

"And the part where you compared the kids to terrorists." Bucky added.

"What? No! Didn't you listen to my speech? They are like terrorists, they just -"

"Why don't we table that particular argument? We can proofread your paper later. We should really talk about the actual presentation, don't you think? That's the part you've really got to work on." Steve interrupted, stepping in front of Bucky just enough to protect him in case Natasha suddenly decided to attack her least favorite person in the room.

"I thought the presentation was good. She didn't say 'um' once. That's more than you can say, Steve." Peggy objected, nudging her boyfriend slightly.

Natasha looked from Steve to Peggy with an unreadable expression. Steve shifted on his feet uncomfortably. Nat was exceptionally protective of him; even Peggy's good-natured joke could spark some sort of cold response. The blond couldn't decide whether or not he found that particular quality of Natasha's unbearably annoying or overwhelmingly endearing.

To his surprise, no defensive retort emerged from the redhead's mouth. Instead, her eyes lit up. Her mouth curved into an amused smirk. Bucky and Steve both looked at each other nervously.

"He does stutter a lot, doesn't he?" Natasha remarked, smiling at Peggy with nothing but amusement.

Steve's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He certainly hadn't expected that. The girls had spent some time together, sure, but not enough for Natasha to be completely at ease around Peggy. They almost never talked about him. They stuck to more simple subjects, like the weather and the food that they ordered for lunch.

"Yes! When we first met, I thought I was going to throw up from nerves, but then he spoke and he was just a disaster! I have no idea how he has gotten his reputation of being such a ladies man." Peggy laughed, glancing at Steve before meeting Natasha's gaze.

"I know, right? You should have heard him sophomore year when he had a little crush on me -"

"Wait, you  _knew_?" Steve demanded, feeling his face redden.

Natasha smiled at the blond indulgently while Peggy shook her head and laughed. Steve's eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't sure he liked the two girls getting along after all.

"Of course I knew;  _everyone_  knew. You aren't exactly the most subtle person on this planet, you know. Aw, don't give me that look, it was cute. I was very flattered." Natasha laughed, ruffling Steve's hair slightly.

"Did he ever try to hide behind people when you saw him? I think I saw him hiding behind Bucky four or five times before our first date." Peggy asked, stepping away from Steve in order to sit down next to Natasha, clearly more interested in the conversation at hand than the indignant look on Steve's face.

"I was not hiding," He tried to object.

"You were hiding." Bucky asserted, clapping Steve on the back with a chuckle.

"Who's hiding? Did Bucky try to hit on Nat again?" Clint Barton inquired, stepping into the room and looking around cautiously.

"No one is hiding. No one has ever been hiding. Look Nat, Clint is here." Steve said hastily, gesturing to Clint as though Natasha could have possibly missed her boyfriend's entrance.

Clint looked at Steve as though he had completely lost his mind. "Uh, yeah, it's dinner time. I'm always here for dinner. Uh, Tasha, want to go eat? I can tell you about my court case and you can explain why Rogers is acting like he just murdered somebody."

"That is a good idea. C'mon Peggy, I'll walk you to the bus stop." Steve remarked, sparing his own girlfriend a relieved smile.

"Wait, Peggy isn't staying for dinner? I had so many stories to tell her. Why can't Bucky go home instead?" Natasha complained immediately.

"My dad made dinner and he really wants me to try it," Peggy explained grimly. Suddenly, a smile crossed her face, "Hey! You should come over for dinner! My parents always love when I have friends over, especially if they go to S.H.I.E.L.D. They'd be thrilled to meet you."

"Are you sure?" Natasha had never been invited to a friend's house for dinner before. She hadn't even known that Peggy considered her a friend. She looked to Steve for some sort of guidance.

Steve recognized the look and sighed. He didn't like the idea of Natasha and Peggy sitting at a dinner table discussing all of his awkward romantic endeavors, but he wanted both of the girls to be happy. Peggy had been having difficulty retaining her friends after she had skipped her school's homecoming, and Natasha had always had trouble making female friends. Spending an evening telling stories and laughing without worrying about ulterior motives or vicious gossip would be a nice change of pace for the girls. He nodded slightly.

"You should go. Peggy's parents are really nice. Besides, I heard that the cafeteria is serving leftover meatloaf again. You won't be missing anything special." The blond lied, forcing himself to smile as Natasha looked Peggy over curiously. He conveniently left out the fact that it was make-your-own-quesadilla night.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt…" Natasha said hesitantly, "Do you have any stories about Steve's dancing? I've heard that it looks like a bald eagle doing some kind of mating ritual, but I've never been able to get him to dance around me."

Peggy laughed as they both exited the room. "You have no idea! One time, I insisted that he take me out dancing, and he requested this ridiculous song…"

Steve was relieved that the girls progressed out of earshot before the story could be completed. He turned to look at Bucky and Clint, both of whom were smirking at him. Steve rolled his eyes and punched Clint in the shoulder harder than was perhaps necessary.

"Shut up; you know Nat is going to talk about you, too." He mumbled, starting off in the direction of the cafeteria and hoping that the sight of food would cause his friends to forget the embarrassing exchange that they had just experienced.

* * *

"Where's Tasha?" Pepper asked as Steve, his friend Bucky, and Clint plopped down at the dinner table.

Clint shrugged. "Steve's girlfriend stole her for the night."

"Oh, Peggy was here? You should have told me! I've been wanting to ask her what she's wearing to prom." Pepper whined, looking around the table to see if any of her friends shared her disappointment. She had heard so much about the elusive Peggy Carter, but had never managed to talk to her for more than five minutes at a time. She was curiously to get to know the girl that had managed to take Steve's mind off of Natasha Romanov.

"Look how many quesadillas Thor is trying to make." Tony pointed out, nodding towards where Thor was holding up the entire line in the hopes of changing the subject. He was not particularly eager for Pepper to figure out that he had dated Peggy some months ago.

Steve rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching into an amused smirk. Bucky glanced at him, clearly willing to defend Peggy's honor alongside of his best friend if Steve should choose to attack Tony Stark for what would be at least the tenth time in the past week. Steve shook his head and chuckled, opting to let the subject go. For now.

"He's a big guy; it takes a lot of food to keep him going." The blond remarked.

"Looks like Darcy got stuck behind him again. She's not going to be happy when she gets here." Clint mused, his mouth quirking into a smile.

"She could have some of mine. I'd share my quesadilla with her all day long." Sam commented, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Loki, who had been sitting at the table and suffering in silence, turned to look at Sam through narrowed eyes. The rest of the table noticed and broke out into laughter. Steve punched Sam's shoulder a bit too hard while Pepper nudged Loki's side with her elbow.

"Might want to wait until Loki's out of earshot to say that, buddy. You don't want to get launched out of a window; trust me on that one." Tony said, snickering slightly.

Sam shook his head with a cocky grin. "They're just friends - right, Odinson?"

Loki's glare did not grow any less venomous. "Yes, Darcy Lewis and I have a friendship that involves no romantic elements whatsoever. However, that does not mean that I am unwilling to defend her in her absence."

"That's fine, I'll just, uh, hey Bruce, you're on my side, right?" Sam questioned as the moppy headed boy plopped down at the dinner table.

Bruce looked around the table curiously. It only took him a few seconds to see that Loki appeared to be the 'other side' of whatever argument had arisen in the past five minutes. He shook his head hastily.

"Consider me Switzerland." He mumbled, taking a large bite out of his quesadilla in order to avoid answering any more questions.

Loki cast Sam a smug look.

"How about you, Bucky? You look like you might be able to do some damage. Tell you what; you team up with me, I'll tell you all about the time you almost kissed Steve." Sam speculated, eying Bucky carefully.

"What?" Bucky yelped, looking from Sam to Steve with wide eyes.

Steve sighed and shook his head. "You're a bastard, Sam. I'd been hoping that would be erased from his memory forever. Buck, it wasn't anything like that. It was just a weird night, you'd been drinking, I think you thought I was someone else…"

"Woah, sounds like I'm walking in on some kind of soap opera here. Is Steve dating Bucky now? How'd Peggy take the news? Did she hit you? I bet she hit you." Darcy commented, sliding into the seat next to Loki and grinning at Steve and Bucky, both of whom were blushing profusely.

Thor followed behind the brunette, plopping down on the other side of Loki.

"Ah, Thor, how good of you to tear yourself away from the quesadillas long enough to join us." Loki remarked, nodding towards his brother as Steve and Bucky began to stammer through an explanation to Darcy.

"Quesadilla night is my favorite night." Thor reminded Loki with a sheepish smile.

"So it is," Loki agreed distractedly, his eyes wandering from Thor's loaded tray to Darcy, who was laughing and teasing Bucky and Steve relentlessly.

"Hey, where's Natasha?" Jane asked, peering down the long row of students chattering away at their table. She had been hoping to ask the redhead a computer coding question in an effort to avoid Tony's patronizing comments upon receiving a plea for help.

"Dinner at Peggy's." Bucky replied, his voice muffled by the large amount of food he was currently chewing.

"I missed her again? I feel like you guys are just playing a joke on me at this point." Jane whined, looking around to see if anyone else was as indignant about not seeing Steve's girlfriend as she was.

"Maybe Steve made her up." Darcy suggested, smiling in the blond's direction.

Steve laughed and shook his head. "She's real, I swear. You can ask Clint, Bucky, or Stark. They've all met her for longer than five minutes."

"Tony's met her? When? He hasn't gone to any of the football games." Pepper questioned, turning to look at her boyfriend curiously.

Tony's face reddened. He glowered at Steve, who shrugged and returned his attention to his quesadillas.

"Oh, yeah, she's, uh, she's alright. Not so bad, I mean. I, uh, oh, Clint has a dog." Tony stammered, looking around the table and taking advantage of the first distraction he could think of.

Clint finally looked up from his food. "How do you know about Pizza?"

"Saw you walking him around two or three in the morning." Tony answered with a relieved grin.

"You named your dog Pizza?" Darcy asked, staring at Clint as though he had done something astonishingly unintelligent.

"I'm sorry, what do you think I should have named him? Pepperoni?" Clint demanded, rolling his eyes at the very thought.

"Well, I was thinking that Darcy might be a better name for a beloved creature. I don't know though, that's just the first thing that came to mind." Darcy replied, her mouth curving into a self-satisfied smile.

"Do not name your dog after Darcy." Loki objected, shaking his head at Darcy.

"Oh, shit, I was really thinking about it, though." Clint responded sarcastically, snapping his fingers as though he was really disappointed about not being able to name his dog after the ridiculous girl who had pretended to be his legal counsel just a few hours ago.

"Why shouldn't he name his dog after me? Darcy is a wonderful name." Darcy complained, scowling at Loki.

"I am not entirely certain that it is a name to begin with." Loki countered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, it's a name. A beautiful name." Sam chimed in, grinning at Darcy.

Darcy rolled her eyes and laughed. "Thanks for the input, Sam. I'm still not going to go to prom with you."

"Damn." Sam muttered, returning his attention to his quesadilla.

"Wait, you've already asked her before?" Tony asked, looking between Sam and Darcy with a smile akin to a child on Christmas morning.

"Tony dated Peggy before Steve." Sam announced as a way of getting back at the billionaire.

"What?" Half of the table gasped, turning to look at either Tony or Steve.

"It was only a date or two. It didn't mean anything. I hardly knew her. You know, I don't even really know her last name. It doesn't count." Tony rambled, his eyes widening as he tried to justify himself to Pepper.

Steve shrugged, smirking to himself. "I don't know Stark. You seemed to know her pretty well when you came over to say 'hi' during homecoming."

Tony's jaw clenched. "You bastard."

"Hey!" Bucky growled, his muscles tensing as he glowered at the billionaire from across the table.

Steve rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Let it go, Buck. Look, guys, it isn't a big deal. Peggy told me all about it. Stark took her out once or twice, got freaked out by her parents and never called her back. End of story."

"Tony! That is so rude!" Pepper hissed, swatting her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Steve and Bucky kissed!" Tony proclaimed loudly, hoping that the change in subject would distract the table once more.

"Oh, this is just a disaster." Jane whispered to Thor, looking around the table with wide eyes.

"We almost kissed and it was only because – no, we've already been over this. Rhodey told me that Tony had a dream about hooking up with Sam once." Steve bit back, his mouth curving into a smirk.

Tony's eyes widened as he looked between Sam and Pepper. "What? No! He's lying. Don't listen to him, he's, ah, well, hey, Barton, you know that Steve had a huge crush on Natasha for years, right?"

Clint took a moment to look around the table in amusement. Everyone appeared to be nervous about what sort of news would be exposed next. Even Darcy was ducked down to hide behind Loki as though that would keep her out of the argument.

With a chuckle, he shook his head. "Everybody knows that Steve had a huge crush on Nat for years. I thought he was going to kill me when I asked her to homecoming. What does that have to do with you dating his girlfriend?"

Tony's eyes narrowed as the subject was brought around to the main topic that he had been trying to avoid.

"I wouldn't even call it dating." He sulked.

"Peggy doesn't either." Steve shrugged, clearly enjoying making fun of Tony at every possible opportunity.

"Hey, Rogers. Why are you even involved in this conversation? Shouldn't you be, oh, I don't know, locking lips with your buddy Bucky?" Tony countered angrily.

Steve offered Tony a view of his middle finger as a response.

"Yeah, you owe me an explanation." Bucky muttered quietly as the conversation slowly shifted back to Tony's almost-relationship with Peggy.

"Alright, fair enough," Steve sighed, sparing one last dark look at Sam before sinking his teeth into a cookie that he had been eying for some ten minutes.

"Where are you two going?" Loki suddenly questioned, drawing attention to Clint and Darcy, who were now standing and collecting their dinner trays.

"Oh, we're going to get some grammar club business taken care of." Darcy replied brightly.

"Want company?" Sam asked teasingly.

"Mm, no, I think you're better where you are. Maybe you can tell Bucky more about his super close friendship with Steve. C'mon, Barton. I've got to go change into my stealth clothes before we can get anything done." Darcy replied, winking at Sam before grabbing Clint's arm and dragging him off in the direction of the dorms.

"Please don't tell me about my super close friendship with Steve." Bucky murmured as Clint and Darcy escaped the dining hall.

* * *

"Ow, what the hell – I thought that we were just going to walk into the office and fix my detention attendance numbers. I didn't know that we were going to scale walls and open windows." Darcy complained as she attempted to pull herself up the wall with the assistance of a thin rope and shoes without much traction.

"Where's the fun in that?" Clint replied from halfway up the wall, his mouth curving into a smirk, "Besides, you can't just walk through the door at a school like S.H.I.E.L.D. There are security cameras everywhere. Coulson is going to be suspicious enough when he reviews your numbers before graduation. If he sees us sneaking into his office on video, it's game over."

"Maybe you should just do this on your own. I think I'm just holding you back." Darcy decided, taking a break from trying to struggle up the wall.

Clint laughed as he slid through the window into Coulson's office. He hung over the edge in order to look at Darcy, who was now standing on the ground.

"No, I can't do this without you. I need your personal information and you need to know which dates you did and didn't attend. C'mon; put the line through your belt and hold on tight. I'll pull you up." He said, making sure that Darcy's line was carefully tied to the brick wall.

"You'll pull me up? No way. You'll drop me." Darcy refused, clipping the line to her belt but folding her arms across her chest and staring up at Clint skeptically.

"I'm not going to drop you, Darcy. I know better. I've seen you in the courtroom – you could sue me senseless." Clint replied with a laugh, grabbing the line and beginning to pull.

"Shit!" Darcy yelped, struggling to find her footing on the side of the wall as she was yanked into the air.

It took a few minutes and a lot of upper body strength on Clint's part, but Darcy soon found herself standing in Coulson's office alongside of Clint, who was now rubbing his sore biceps.

"I'm not that heavy." She snapped, smacking Clint's aching arms.

"No, no, of course you're not, I'm just ah, I'm really out of shape. I've gotten used to Nat beating people up for me. Guess I'd better stop going on missions with her or I'll wind up being useless." Clint replied, hunching over the computer before Darcy could think of anything else to be offended about.

"Well, I wouldn't call you useless," Darcy reasoned, tilting her head slightly, "You did sort of lift me up a few stories. Why don't you wear sleeveless shirts? I bet your biceps are ridiculous."

Clint turned to look at Darcy with a quirked eyebrow. "Are you hitting on me?"

"Did you mean to make Coulson's screensaver an accidental selfie?" Darcy countered, nodding to the computer monitor.

Clint turned to look at where he had accidentally turned on the webcam, taken a hideous picture of himself, and set it to the screensaver over the course of the past ten seconds.

"Oh, shit," He murmured, resetting the screensaver to Coulson's picture of some superhero out of the 1940's and deleting the picture of himself, "Good call, Lewis."

"Well, you know, I have always considered myself pretty observant." Darcy remarked with a smug smile.

As Clint made a series of keystrokes and clicks, a series of noises emerged from outside of Coulson's door. A sliver of light appeared from underneath the door. Darcy and Clint both looked at each other with panicked stares.

"I haven't even gotten to the detention records yet." Clint murmured nervously.

"I'm going to get even more detention if Coulson sees me here. Shit, lower me down." Darcy whispered, rushing over to the window.

Before either of them could do anything to help their situation, the door to Coulson's office creaked open. Darcy dove under Coulson's desk, smacking her head as she did so, while Clint managed to climb up on top of Coulson's bookshelf.

The light to Coulson's office flicked on, revealing Pepper Potts and Tony Stark.

"Relax, Potts. Disabling the security cameras was child's play. Really, I don't understand why their security network is so weak. Anyone could hack into their system. Everyone probably does. No wonder somebody stole the money out of the school's bank account." Tony said as he strolled in the office and sank into Coulson's chair.

Pepper glared at her boyfriend.

"Sorry. Too soon?" Tony asked with a slight grin.

"Considering that it's not over yet, yeah, I would say that it's definitely too soon." Pepper replied, rolling her eyes before moving to Tony's side in order to get a better look at the computer.

"Looks like somebody is already logged in." Tony commented, his eyebrows furrowing.

"That would be me." Clint announced from the top of Coulson's bookshelf.

Pepper let out a startled squeak while Tony nearly fell out of Coulson's chair.

"Holy shit, Barton – what the hell are you doing on that bookshelf?" Tony demanded, rubbing his temples in order to recover from the shock of Clint's sudden announcement.

"We thought you were Coulson. Ugh, could you please move your feet?" Darcy responded from under Coulson's desk.

This time, Tony did fall out of his chair. Pepper couldn't help but laugh as Darcy crawled out from under the desk, smirking at Tony as she did so. Clint laughed along as he leapt down from the bookshelf.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tony asked as he worked to recover his composure, glaring at Darcy and Clint as he did so.

"We're doing the same thing as you, from the looks of it. We need to get into Coulson's computer to change a few of Darcy's detention absences." Clint replied, approaching the computer and nudging Tony out of the way.

"Not before I change a few of my absences from class. I can't believe that they're even keeping track of it at this point. I have my own multi-billion dollar company. Who cares if I show up to Selvig's stupid class?" Tony grumbled, trying to shove Clint away from the computer.

Clint moved to push Tony again, but lost his footing and fell on the ground near where Darcy was sitting. He swore and glared up at Tony, who simply smirked back.

"Relax, Barton. It'll take me a few seconds, tops. While we're here – how often do you and Natasha break into the mainframe? I'm not going to sell you out or anything, I'm just curious. You guys do seem to know everything that goes on at this school." Tony commented as he typed a string of commands into the computer.

Clint shook his head with a grin. "As far as you know, we're just very well-informed students."

"Aw, come on. I heard Natasha is really good at hacking computers. She's got to access Fury's files at least once a week just to make sure she's up to date on what really goes on with this school. Do you know about the planned budget cuts to the archery department?" Tony asked, finally looking away from the computer for a second or two.

Clint rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Yes, I know about the budget cuts. All of the professors are talking about it; you're not telling me anything that's news. I think it's pretty shitty that Fury gets to decide what is and isn't useful around here."

"Maybe he's using the money to get himself a glass eye." Tony speculated with a smirk.

"He is not getting himself a glass eye, Tony. Can you please focus on changing your absences? We don't have that much time. The administrators are always wandering around the office to make sure that students aren't doing, well, this." Pepper reminded Tony, swatting his arm and nodding towards the computer.

"Relax. I've already got my absences taken care of. I've got 20 now; fifteen of which were excused. I was sick for a while, didn't want to get anyone else sick. Now I'm working on Darcy's detention records. Your student ID number is 1566397, right?" Tony questioned, glancing at Darcy with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" Darcy asked, standing up and approaching the computer in order to watch Tony work.

"I know everybody's number. How else am I supposed to access everyone's personal information?" Tony replied as though the answer was totally obvious.

"Wait, you access everyone's personal information?" Darcy clarified, looking mildly concerned.

"Yes I do, Darcy Lewis; daughter of Frank and Natalie Lewis. I never would have guessed that you had braces as a kid. They really did not look good. Maybe if you showed a picture to Sam, he'd leave you alone." Tony responded with a smug grin.

Pepper smacked Tony's arm.

"You don't need to worry about me and Sam," Darcy countered, her mouth curving into a smirk of her own, "we both know that that's never going to happen. I think I'm just going to wait until college to start dating. You're free to act on every sexual dream that you've ever had about Sam."

"It was one time and I'm pretty sure it was only because I was watching a bird documentary before I went to bed that night. Sam reminds me of a bird." Tony growled, his eyes narrowing as he continued to type.

"Are you done yet, Stark? We really should be getting out of here soon. Fury is going to notice that his security system is down any minute." Clint reminded the billionaire, glancing out the door nervously.

"You all need to calm down. Fury never notices when his security system is down. He'll probably just think that somebody put a blanket over his cameras again." Tony snorted, rolling his eyes as he continued to manipulate the necessary data.

"Shit," Clint murmured, flicking the lights off without any previous warning, "Looks like Fury finally noticed. We've got company."

"Tony, we've got to go." Pepper hissed, backing away towards the window.

"Give me thirty seconds, max." Tony whispered back, shaking his head.

"We don't have thirty seconds, Stark." Clint growled, shutting the door as quietly as he could manage.

"Fine. Fifteen." Tony muttered, still typing.

"Okay, I'm not getting another reason to not graduate. Barton, please help me out of this window." Darcy said, backing towards the window and looking at Clint expectantly.

"We don't have time for that either. Everyone find a hiding spot that you like and get there now." Clint instructed, returning to his spot on top of Coulson's bookshelf.

Darcy sighed and crawled under the desk once more, followed by Tony, who had just finished modifying her detention attendance rates. Pepper crouched behind Coulson's massive filing cabinet.

A few short seconds later, the door to Coulson's office creaked open. Two administrators strode into the room, flicking on the lights as they did so.

"See? I told you that there was no one in here. You're losing it, Oscar." The woman administrator remarked as they looked around the room.

"I could have sworn the light was on." The man, Oscar, muttered defensively.

"Fury's got you paranoid," The woman laughed, shaking her head as they exited the room, "we don't get paid nearly enough for this." She shut the door behind them.

The students crawled out from their respective hiding places, stretching out and shaking their heads in disbelief.

"I think they get paid way too much considering the amount of good they do." Tony commented, shaking his head as he brushed off his pants.

"I think that you're entirely too worried about making snarky comments. We had a close call; we need to get out of here before anyone else comes in here. Do either of you have any experience with scaling down walls?" Clint asked, moving towards the window.

"Why can't we just walk out the door?" Tony complained.

"Did you not just see what happens when we open doors and turn on lights? It's too risky. We've got to go out the windows. Stark, you climb down first." Clint responded, handing a thin line to Tony and clipping a link onto his belt loop.

"This is possibly the least safe thing I've ever done at this school. Why am I going first, anyway?" Tony demanded irritably.

"You can catch the girls if they fall. Besides, you've fallen out of a window before. If you do fall, it'll be nothing new for you. Go on; you'll be fine. I'll lower you down nice and slow." Clint sighed, shoving Tony in the direction of the window.

Tony reluctantly obeyed, stepping out of the window and tentatively scaling the wall. Clint pressed his foot against the wall for leverage, his muscles straining as he supported Tony's weight.

"Hey, I'm really doing it!" Tony called as he neared the bottom, clearly thrilled with the idea of a successful spy-like mission.

"Yeah, you're doing great, Tony." Pepper agreed, stifling a laugh as she watched Clint do nearly all of the work.

Clint smiled to himself, but accidentally inhaled much too close to Coulson's dusty bookshelf. He squeezed his eyes shut, but couldn't help himself. The archer let out a loud sneeze, accidentally releasing the line as he did so.

" _Ow_ , fuck! Barton, what the hell?" Tony's irritated voice floated up from the ground.

"Hm?" Clint questioned, leaning over the window in order to better hear what the billionaire was now yelling at him.

"I think he's a little bit annoyed that you dropped him." Darcy translated.

"Ah. Sorry Stark; allergies," Clint called back with a sheepish smile. He then turned to look at Pepper and Darcy, "Alright, who wants to go next?"

Darcy and Pepper looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Neither were particular eager to be lowered down by Clint when he was sneezing and dropping people, but it seemed that they did not have many other options.

"I'll go. I at least have a clip for my belt. Even so, you'd better not drop me. I will sue you for everything you have and some things that you don't have." Darcy said, clipping the line to her belt and stepping out of the window nervously.

Clint smiled and lowered down Darcy with a greater deal of care than he had with Tony. Within a moment or two, Darcy had reached the ground without any type of injury. She had complained about getting a paper cut along the way, but no one could see how that was possible.

That left Clint and Pepper. It was obvious that Pepper was not eager to be lowered down from the way that she was looking out the window, but there was no way that Clint could go before her. He quickly assessed the situation before coming up with a logical plan of action.

"Alright, Potts, why don't you put your arms around me," Clint suggested, stepping close to the window before holding out his arms in Pepper's direction.

"What?" Tony demanded from the ground, scowling up in the direction of the window.

Pepper, Clint, and Darcy rolled their eyes in unison.

"I'm not trying to make a move on your girlfriend, Stark. I'm just trying to get her out of this office without killing anyone. We'll go down together, it'll be fine." Clint responded, allowing Pepper to wrap her arms around his neck before stepping out of the window.

Once the pair reached the ground, Tony immediately moved to stand next to Pepper, wrapping his arm around her shoulders posessively. She rolled her eyes and shrugged the arm off, folding her own arms across her chest.

"Couldn't just let her climb down like everyone else, could you Barton? You know, I could have carried you down too, Pepper." Tony sulked as the four began to shuffle back towards the dorms.

Darcy snorted. "Oh, please. You're studying science, not espionage. You could make a robot to help you climb down the wall, but you couldn't do it with a rope and your biceps. Just give Barton some props. He's good at his major."

"It isn't a very hard major." Tony grumbled to himself.

"Speaking of biceps," Darcy interjected loudly, completely ignoring Tony, "I still want to see yours, Barton. Where are we at with the sleeveless shirt decision?"

"Oh, you probably do have some pretty nice arms. Sleeveless shirts wouldn't break any of the dress code rules." Pepper added in with a warm smile.

Tony stared at Pepper in disbelief. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

"Relax," Pepper sighed, rolling her eyes, "I was just letting Clint know that he has the option. Maybe Natasha would like it if he showed a little bit of muscle."

"Maybe she would. Maybe we all would. That settles it: Monday morning, I expect to see you in a sleeveless shirt. Don't let me down, Barton." Darcy declared with a triumphant smile.

"We'll see." Clint chuckled, his reddened face hidden by the dark sky.

* * *

"Are you girls sure that you wouldn't like any dessert? We have cake, ice cream, and I think we might have cookies in the freezer. I could run out to the store if there's something else that you would like." Mrs. Carter remarked as Peggy and Natasha got up from the dinner table.

"Oh, um, no, thank you, I'm really okay. Thanks, though." Natasha replied, looking at Peggy a bit desperately, unsure of how to handle the situation.

Natasha never knew what to do around parents. She had met Bucky's parents a few times, but there had been no real pressure there. Bucky's dad was usually at work while Bucky's mom just loved everybody.

It wasn't that Peggy's parents were mean, of course. As far as Natasha could tell, they were incredibly nice people. She just didn't know how to talk to them. They didn't know much about S.H.I.E.L.D., which made it difficult to explain what she was studying. They were constantly asking questions about Steve, which would have normally been an easy subject for Natasha, except for the fact that she could not tell his girlfriend's parents embarrassing stories from his past. Natasha had been forced to sit at the table and quietly eat her food, hoping that if she remained still for long enough Peggy's parents would forget that she was there.

"I think we're just going to go hang out in my room. Thanks for dinner, dad." Peggy said, casting her father a grateful smile before guiding Natasha in the direction of her room.

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Nate, Peggy's younger brother, proclaimed, leaping out of his chair and bounding after the girls.

Natasha couldn't be sure, but it seemed that Nate had taken a liking to her for some reason. He was constantly asking her questions about Steve, as well as herself. He had been particularly fascinated when she had discussed her sparring class. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised by that. Sparring was an exceptionally interesting subject.

"Oh, no you're not," Peggy responded sternly, "You already follow Steve around. You can't follow Natasha around too."

"Mom!" Nate whined, stomping his foot indignantly.

"Nate, let your sister have her own friends. Come here, you can help me take the cake out of the oven." Mrs. Carter declared from the kitchen.

Nate glared at Peggy for a second before stomping towards the kitchen, grumbling to himself all the while.

"I'm sorry about him. He's always looking to make friends with anyone I bring home. Apparently it's much easier than making friends at his school." Peggy explained as the girls walked towards Peggy's bedroom.

Natasha immediately felt very weird walking into her new friend's room. Steve had been here before. Steve had probably kissed Peggy here before. Peggy probably dreamt of Steve here. Steve was considered a boyfriend here. The thought made her shudder reflexively. There was a chance that she had made a mistake in agreeing to have dinner at Peggy's house.

Peggy seemed to notice Natasha's sudden awkwardness and laughed.

"You don't have to worry. I don't have any weird pictures of Steve hanging around here. I don't think he's ever seen my room, actually. My dad is a bit strict about him. He thinks that a handsome football player couldn't possibly have anything but bad intentions." Peggy assured Natasha, waving her hand as if to brush off her father's comments.

Natasha laughed just slightly. "Oh, Steve's intentions are pure gold. He's just an idiot about executing them."

"Isn't he, though? Did you know that he and Bucky had a bet on who could read all of the Harry Potter books first? He hid all of Bucky's books and then lost half of his!" Peggy remarked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's Steve alright. He's weird though; he'll never admit that he might be doing something bad. He'll always sugarcoat it so that it sounds like he's doing something completely noble and necessary. I don't even understand why he bothers. He does the dumbest stuff." Natasha sighed, rolling her eyes at the thought.

"He jumped off of the top of Mrs. Barnes car while Bucky was driving because Bucky told him not to." Peggy stated, shaking her head.

"How has he not died yet?" Natasha asked, giggling.

Peggy shrugged, also laughing. "I asked Bucky the other day; he doesn't really know either. We think all of that muscle just kind of absorbs all of the pain that he puts himself through."

"Did he ever tell you about the time that he dared Sam to shoot him?" Natasha asked, pulling her phone out of her pocket in the hopes that she had pictures from that particular event.

"This is the boy that I have chosen to love," Peggy sighed, shaking her head as she looked through the pictures.

"Wait, you _love_  him?" Natasha questioned, her eyes widening a bit.

Peggy's face reddened as she nodded. "Well, yeah, I mean, we have been together for months. You don't think it's too soon, do you? He's already said it, so it isn't really one-sided. I mean, not unless he's told you something else. Has he...?"

"No, no, he hasn't told me something else, I just," Natasha paused, unsure of what she was trying to say, "I guess I don't really know much about it. When did you know that you loved him?"

Peggy looked at Natasha thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging with a bashful smile. "Somewhere in between listening to him ramble about how perfect the produce section was and seeing him try to hide behind Bucky."

"How could you possibly know that soon?" Natasha demanded with a small laugh.

"I don't know. It was just sort of a gut feeling. I just saw him and knew," Peggy replied with a smile, "Haven't you ever looked at Clint and just kind of known?"

"I don't know. I don't really have much to compare it to." Natasha admitted, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Peggy nodded, knowing better than to push the subject. Natasha did not like talking about her relationship with Clint. The redhead even bristled when Steve asked her too many questioned. Peggy understood; it was her first relationship and she didn't want to let an outside force ruin it. It was kind of nice.

"So, do you know anything about the time that Bucky almost kissed Steve?" Peggy questioned, diverting the topic back to something that Natasha was likely more comfortable with.

Natasha laughed, grabbing her phone out of Peggy's hands in order to find a video that would answer her question.

"Oh yeah, that was a weird night. Wait until you hear what Bucky was saying. Sam and I were pretty sure that we were going to have to leave soon."

The girls wound up talking for hours. They shared stories about all of Steve's stupid endeavors as well as stories about Bucky and Clint. By the time they shared their top 10 stories about each of the guys, it was a little past one in the morning.

"Oh, wow, I had no idea that it was getting this late. Um, I should get going." Natasha muttered, glancing down at her phone in surprise.

"What? No, you can't get back at this time. The buses have stopped working and there's no way you are going to walk five miles in the dark. My dad would have a heart attack if you even suggested the idea in the same house as him." Peggy objected immediately.

Natasha smiled slightly. "I don't mind walking in the dark; I'll be the most dangerous person out there. Um, thanks for dinner. It's been really fun."

"Don't be ridiculous," Peggy argued, "you can just stay here for the night. I know your class schedule; you don't have anything until ten o'clock. I can have you back at S.H.I.E.L.D. by eight. Come on, I'll go get you some pillows and blankets from the laundry room."

Natasha stared after Peggy with wide eyes, unsure of how to proceed. She had never been to a sleepover at a female friend's house before. She didn't even know what Peggy was planning on doing with the pillow and blankets. Was she expecting to have a pillow fight? Did she want to build a fort? Was she just trying to get Natasha something to sleep on?

The redhead shook her head as she followed Peggy. She had a feeling that befriending Steve's girlfriend was going to be even stranger than she had originally thought.

* * *

"Hey Dr. Sitwell, do you mind if I steal Darcy for a few minutes? Mr. Coulson wants to see her." Maria remarked the next morning, popping her head into the classroom and interrupting what looked like a pretty serious debate in the ethics class.

Darcy did not seem too distraught by the interruption. "Feel free to steal me every day. Um, Dr. Sitwell, it's been a pleasure. Can you just email me the rest of the notes?"

"No." Dr. Sitwell responded, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, Pepper, can you help a sister out?" Darcy asked, ignoring the fact that she was holding up the entire class.

Pepper laughed. "Yes, Darcy, you can copy my notes tonight."

"Great, thanks. Remember everyone: legal doesn't mean ethical!" Darcy called as she followed Maria out of the classroom.

"That's not entirely true," Sitwell objected as Darcy closed the door behind her.

Darcy was surprised to see that Tony was also joining her and Maria on their walk to Coulson's office. Her eyes immediately widened in horror.

"You don't think that he knows about-"

"No, don't be stupid. He probably just saw the numbers and wants to tell us that he made a mistake." Tony replied immediately, shaking his head.

Maria turned to look at them inquisitively. "What are you guys talking about? What did you do?"

"Nothing." Darcy and Tony answered immediately.

Maria raised her eyebrows with a smile. "Oh, you did do something. You should probably work on not acting suspicious."

Darcy and Tony glared at each other but didn't say a word.

Before they really had time to prepare themselves for any sort of interrogation, they found themselves sitting in front of Coulson, squirming uncomfortably in the sticky leather seats in front of his desks.

"Do you two know why you're here?" Coulson questioned, looking from Tony to Darcy.

"Uh, did you finally find out about Darcy stalking me? You know, I wasn't going to say anything about it, but it has been getting a bit weird. The other night I caught her digging through my laundry." Tony replied, pretending to cast concerned glances in Darcy's direction.

Darcy rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

"This is not about that Mr. Stark, although if what you're saying is true, you might think about filing for a restraining order. This is about your attendance and your detention absences." Coulson responded, not even batting an eye at Tony's stupid explanation.

"What about my attendance? Have you finally realized that you made a stupid mistake that nearly ruined my entire future?" Tony inquired, raising an eyebrow in the most patronizing manner her could manage.

Coulson's smile did not falter. "It seems that the numbers are much different than we thought. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Would I know anything about my attendance? Hm, yeah, I think I'd know a thing or two about it." Tony replied as though it were the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"I'm going to be very straightforward with you two: did you hack into an administrator's computer and change your records?" Coulson demanded, staring straight at Darcy as though he expected her to tell the truth while Tony thought of another sarcastic response.

"What? No, of course not. I can't even figure out how to guess my own password half of the time." Darcy answered, her eyebrows furrowing as she spoke.

"I just don't have time to hack into the school's computers. I'm either in class, which I think you'll see from my attendance records, or I'm running a multi-billion dollar company. Speaking of, how much longer is this meeting going to last?" Tony added with a slight smirk.

"That's it. I just wanted to make sure that nothing illegal had happened before I approved you both for graduation." Coulson said at length.

"Great, so we can leave? I should probably get ready for dinner. I need to get some notes from Pepper." Darcy asked, already standing up out of her chair.

"Of course," Coulson stated with a nod, "Have a nice evening, you two."

Darcy and Tony did not need to be told twice. They both leapt out of their seats and rushed towards the door as Coulson pretended to be busy with paperwork. Once they were away from the cluster of administrator offices, they both smiled widely.

"I can't believe we got away with it that easily!" Darcy whispered excitedly.

"Really? You can't believe that we pulled one over on Coulson? The man doesn't notice anything. We won." Tony chuckled.

"I say we celebrate." Darcy proposed with a wide smile.

Tony looked down at Darcy with a raised eyebrow. "If you're trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me, I'm going to have to give you a rain check. I've got a date with Pepper tonight."

"I was thinking more of a high five." Darcy responded, looking at Tony like he was deranged.

"Ah, yeah, I can do that." Tony allowed, holding his hand up just a bit too high for Darcy.

Darcy scowled at him before jumping up and slapping his hand with hers.

"We are master criminals." She proclaimed as they approached the dining hall.

* * *

"Have you met with Mr. Stark and Ms. Lewis?" Fury demanded, walking into Coulson's without any type of greeting.

Coulson looked up from the paperwork and nodded his head vigorously. "They lied and swore they didn't do it. They think that I believed them. They just high-fived in F hall. Everything is on track for everyone to graduate on time."

"They high-fived?" Fury clarified in disbelief.

"Darcy Lewis had to jump to reach Stark's hand." Coulson answered, nodding his head again.

Fury shook his head. "Most intelligent students in the world my ass."

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

It was the night before finals and all through the dorms, not a creature was stirring, not even that student with horns.

Well, that was a bit of a lie. There were a few creatures stirring, namely: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov, Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, and Pepper Potts. Steve had his calculus final at seven fifteen the next morning and everyone was doing everything in their power to make sure that the football player got an 'A'.

"So if I'm taking the partial derivative of this equation, I just focus on K on the top half and L on the bottom half?" Steve questioned, staring down at the practice problem that he had just completed with the help of Tony.

Tony looked up at the ceiling in order to avoid making a sarcastic comment. "If that's how you need to phrase it, then yes. You got the problem right. Uh, what about integrals? Do you understand those yet?"

"So, um, hi Peggy," Pepper whispered, moving over to where Natasha and Peggy were sitting on the spare bed of Tony's room, "I'm Pepper, we've met a few times during football season, but we've never really talked beyond that."

"Yeah, I remember that." Peggy remarked with an amused smile.

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "Sorry, I'm a little bit awkward about meeting new people. Anyway, um, I'm sorry if this is a totally weird question, but did you really date Tony when you first came to New York?"

Natasha raised her eyebrows at Pepper, but simply looked to Peggy, waiting for her to respond one way or another.

Peggy paused for a minute before just laughing off the question. "Oh, yeah, but that was ages ago. You're his girlfriend, aren't you?"

"I am," Pepper replied with a shrug, "I'm not trying to be a crazy jealous girlfriend or anything, I'm really not. I, um, I'm actually just trying to apologize for him. I don't think that you need an apology of course, I just, well, I know that he can be a total jerk. The only reason he and I have lasted so long is because I have years of experience dealing with him. You're definitely way better off with Steve."

"I couldn't agree more with you," Peggy agreed, smiling fondly at Steve, who was glaring down at his textbook as though it had personally wronged him, "he really does try hard, doesn't he?"

"He's the biggest try-hard I've ever met." Natasha remarked, rolling her eyes.

"There's no way that he's going to get less than a hundred percent on that test." Pepper added with a laugh.

The rest of the evening went fairly well. Tony, Pepper, and Bucky struggled to explain every concept in the textbook to Steve while Peggy and Natasha sat on the spare bed eating snacks, making comments about the proceedings and intervening whenever Steve and Tony started bickering.

Around five in the morning, everybody in the room was sound asleep. Natasha and Peggy had fallen asleep first, sprawled across the spare bed. Pepper had been the next to nod off, sleeping with her head on Tony's chest. Bucky had been next, falling asleep with his back pressed up against Tony's desk. Steve had meant to rest his eyes for just a second, but had wound up fast asleep with his head in Bucky's lap. Tony had been the last domino to fall, accidentally winding up with his head pressed against Steve's chest.

The group slept comfortably for about two hours before Steve's ringtone pierced through the calm. Tony immediately sat up once he realized where he was placed, accidentally knocking Pepper aside as he did so. Hearing Pepper's startled yelp, Bucky woke up, moved too quickly and wound up smacking his head against Tony's desk while simultaneously hitting Steve in the head with his knee. Peggy and Natasha cracked their eyes open from the bed, but didn't feel obligated to move. Steve rushed to answer his phone, rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

"Hello? Yeah, hey Rhodey, I just – oh,  _fuck_!" Steve cried out, looking around the room wildly.

Bucky looked down at his phone as he rubbed his aching head. "Shit, Rogers, it's seven. You've got your exam in fifteen minutes."

"The exam is all the way across campus," Steve complained as he threw his books into his backpack, "there's no way I'm going to make it."

"Hang on." Tony ordered, rushing over to his closet and digging out a series of metal-looking things.

He put the metal things on his hands and his legs then clanked over to Steve.

"Open the window." He instructed Natasha.

"No?" Natasha answered, furrowing her eyebrows.

She had seen far too many incidents involving windows at S.H.I.E.L.D. She doubted that whatever Tony had planned on doing was a good idea.

Steve sighed and shook his head. "You might as well open it. Worst cases, I'll fall out of the window and slip into a coma. Then at least I'd have an excuse to miss this exam."

Natasha eyed him skeptically but opened the window anyway. She knew better than to argue with Steve when he thought that he had nothing to lose.

Without another word, Tony flipped a button on his metal things and wrapped his arms around Steve. Everyone looked at him inquisitively, but opted not to comment on the incredibly close embrace.

Suddenly, Tony's metal things sent out a burst of flames and before anyone really knew what was going on, Tony and Steve were launched out the window at a startling speed. Everyone rushed to the window and watched as Tony flew Steve across campus, screaming at birds and students alike to get out of the way.

* * *

Natasha relayed the entire ridiculous story over breakfast that morning, causing the rest of the grammar club and its allies to dissolve into laughter.

"I wonder if Bruce had anything to do with that technology. He probably forbade Tony from using it unless there was some sort of emergency." Maria commented as they discussed exactly how terrible Tony Stark was at flying.

"All I know is that letting Steve know it exists was one of the dumbest things that Stark could do. Now he's going to be zooming all over campus running into trees and people and probably killing hundreds of birds in the process." Bucky sighed, snatching a piece of bacon off of Clint's plate.

"Hey! Why the hell are you two always here, anyway? Don't they have an attendance policy at Jefferson?" Clint grumbled, jabbing at Bucky's ribs with a fork.

"We just finished our AP exams," Peggy answered, sneaking a muffin off of Clint's plate while he was busy fighting off Bucky, "We're both in five AP classes. Our other three classes are pretty much glorified study halls. We're both eighteen, so we wrote notes excusing our own absences. We aren't missing anything."

"Sometimes going to a public school doesn't suck." Bucky grinned.

"Yeah, but your school didn't have the money to throw a prom, so that's kind of a downer, isn't it?" Darcy taunted, her mouth curving into a smile.

Peggy shrugged. "That doesn't really matter to me. I get to go to a prom one way or another."

"Rogers asked you?" Bucky asked.

"Not yet, but I'm assuming he will." Peggy replied, glancing around the table to see if anyone else would argue with her.

"What about you, Darcy? Do you have a prom date yet?" Sam questioned from across the table.

"I'm going with Loki." Darcy answered, nodding towards the lanky boy sitting to her right.

"When did we discuss that particular decision?" Loki demanded, looking thoroughly offended.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you planning on going with anyone else? I don't mind going to prom alone if there's another student you've got your eye on." Darcy remarked, gesturing around the dining hall as if she were exhibiting all of Loki's potential dates.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "Very well. We will attend the prom together, so long as you know that it will not be a romantic outing."

"Ew, yeah, no, of course it won't be." Darcy agreed, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"What about you, Natasha? Has Clint asked you to prom yet?" Bucky asked, grinning at Clint and Natasha in amusement.

"I don't know, has Steve asked you to prom?" Natasha bit back with a smirk of her own.

"What are they debating now?" Thor asked Jane in a quiet voice, finally looking up from where he had been playing Clash of Clans on his phone.

"Who's asking who to prom," Jane answered, rolling her eyes, "It's a big deal on Midgard. Please don't ask me why, because I'm not sure that I can give you an answer that makes sense."

"Do you think Steve is going to ask me? He should have told you by now if he was planning on it." Peggy muttered, reaching around Clint in order to tap Bucky's shoulder.

"I really don't know. We do talk about things other than you sometimes, Peg." Bucky reminded her, taking a large bite of his omelet before Peggy could ask him any other questions.

"I would be surprised if Tony asks me," Pepper sighed from across the table, "he's probably already just assumed that we're going together. He'll probably just show up at my door on prom night and ask me if I'm ready to go."

"You should find a date," Peggy informed Bucky with a small smile, "That way I won't have to worry about Steve texting you every five minutes. I bet Steve could find a girl that wanted to go with you."

"Nah, I don't really know anybody well enough, it would just be so awkward…" Bucky argued, frowning and shaking his head.

"I'll take you to the prom." Sam offered immediately.

Everybody at the table turned to look at Sam in surprise. Once the initial shock of Sam's question settled, the students began to look at Bucky curiously, waiting for his answer.

"Yeah, okay, sure." Bucky agreed with a shrug, hardly looking up from his toast.

* * *

"Hey Maria," Bruce smiled as he walked into the administrative office at twelve o'clock on the dot.

Maria smiled back at him. "Hey Bruce; we missed you at breakfast today. I could have used someone to talk to while everyone was screaming at each other about who they're going to prom with."

"Ah prom," Bruce chuckled, shaking his head.

"Yeah," Maria agreed with a smile, "Are you going?"

"Nah," Bruce stared down at the ground, "Loud music and drunk teenagers…not really my ideal venue. Fury didn't think it would be a good idea. I'll probably just stay in, order some food and take advantage of the fact that Stark owns every movie in existence."

"Right," Maria said, wincing at how little she had thought her question through.

"What about you? Are you going to run around looking for a date like everybody else? I think there are a few guys on the robotics team who are probably looking for dates." Bruce asked, cocking his head to the side a bit.

"No, I don't think I'm going to go either. I don't really want to spend all of that money on just one night and even if I did, I'm really not that great at dancing. I don't know, I don't really think it's my kind of thing." Maria responded, wrinkling her nose slightly.

Bruce nodded to himself thoughtfully. "Oh, well, uh, I mean, if you really don't want to go to prom, you could always, uh, you could hang out with me at Stark's place. I've got his credit card, so there would be free food." He offered with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, that would be great!" Maria agreed immediately, "Um, yeah, thanks, Bruce. I guess we can work out the details later?"

"Yeah, sure," Bruce said, a grin creeping across his face, "Uh, I should get to training. I'll see you at lunch."

As he walked away, Bruce couldn't help but wonder if he had just made a date for himself. Somehow, that thought seemed more terrifying than the training that he was walking into.

* * *

Tony was pacing in front of the door to Steve's calculus class all throughout the exam. He could not focus on anything else; this was the single most important thing in his life at that precise moment. This was the child of his labor. This was what he had been working towards for two lengthy weeks.

Rhodey was the first familiar person to exit the room. As soon as Tony saw him, he rushed over to his friend and started in on a direct line of questioning.

"What were the questions like?" Tony demanded.

"I don't remember, man. I was just trying to survive it. I know there were a lot of questions on integrals, but I don't really remember the exact numbers." Rhodey replied with a shrug.

Tony rolled his eyes, frustrated that Rhodey couldn't remember the exact questions of an exam that he had  _just_  taken. "What about Rogers? Did he look like he was doing alright?"

"He's going to be fine," Rhodey sighed, rolling his eyes, "Stop worrying so much. You're starting to freak me out. Anyway, I'm going to go grab a late breakfast from Starbucks. Are you going to come or are you planning on standing in front of this door worrying about Steve until he walks out?"

Tony glared at his best friend. "Go get your food."

Rhodey laughed and shook his head. "Alright, take it easy, man."

Tony watched Rhodey walk away before resuming his pacing. He couldn't help it; he was worried. Steve was taking much longer than the other students and judging from the looks on the emerging students' faces, it was not an easy exam.

Finally, after twenty more minutes, Steve was the very last student to walk out of the classroom. Tony was almost instantaneously by his side.

"How was the exam?" He demanded.

Steve smiled in amusement. "It was fine, Tony."

"What do you mean by  _fine_? Do you think you got an 'A'?" Tony persisted, following Steve as the football player began to walk down the hall.

"I don't really know. It's hard to tell with tests like those. We'll get our grades in two days, I think. Anyway, I really do appreciate your help and I'd love nothing more than to go over every single detail of that test, but I've got to do something. I'll, uh, I'll see you at lunch." Steve replied, taking a few steps backwards before spinning around on his heel and walking off.

"He's  _got to do something_? I spend hours teaching him calculus and he's got something more important to do than to tell me how much I helped him," Tony muttered to himself in disbelief, "Humph. Well, unlike Rogers, this grade actually matters to me."

With that, he swiftly strode into the classroom that his tall, blond, and muscular friend had just emerged from. The professor was still sitting at her desk and looked noticeably confused when Tony entered the room.

"Dr. H, how are you? You just administered the calculus final, didn't you?"

"Mr. Stark, is there any reason that you are in here?" The professor sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You know, there is," Tony replied with a toothy grin, "I need you to grade Steve Rogers' exam. Right now."

"And why would I do that?"

"I'll pay you ten thousand dollars in cash if you do."

* * *

"Why are we out here again?" Bucky questioned as he, Peggy, and Natasha walked through the biting cold wind in order to get to the football field.

"Steve asked me to meet him out here and you two decided to follow me." Peggy replied with a laugh.

"Right. Yeah, why did I do that again?" Bucky murmured, mostly to himself.

"It could have something to do with the fact that you refuse to talk to anybody else at this school. Although, I guess you're not so reluctant to talk to Sam, are you?" Natasha responded with a smirk.

Bucky opened his mouth to sling some witty comeback in Natasha's direction, but was immediately shut up once he caught sight of the football field.

Written across the visitor's side of the bleachers was the word "PROM?" painted in bright red paint. Standing a few feet below the words was Steve Rogers, who seemed preoccupied with wiping red paint off of his favorite pair of khakis.

The blond immediately noticed his friends through his peripheral vision and scooped up a bouquet of flowers that had been lying nearby on one of the lower bleachers. He grinned at Peggy, whose face had turned nearly scarlet over the course of the past few seconds.

"What do you say, Peg? Want to go to prom with me? I promise I won't spend the entire time in the bathroom talking to Bucky." Steve called from where he stood, still sporting that lopsided smile of his.

Peggy immediately nodded her head before rushing over to where her boyfriend was standing, clearly wanting nothing more than to express just how much she wanted to go to prom with him. Bucky and Natasha both looked away immediately.

"Fury is going to kill him." Natasha sighed.

"I should have known that he'd make some grand gesture. I guess we should just be grateful that he didn't hijack a plane and write 'prom' in the sky." Bucky muttered, shaking his head.

"Guys, why are you just standing there?" Steve called, finally noticing that people other than Peggy were present, "Come on, you can get a better look at my handiwork."

"You're an idiot, Rogers." Natasha called back as she and Bucky approached the bleachers.

Steve shook his head with a smile.

"No, she's right. Even if you do get an 'A' on your calc exam, Fury is going to expel you for this." Bucky agreed, running a hand through his hair.

Steve snorted and rolled his eyes. "Relax, guys. It's just temporary paint. Look." He argued, snatching a water bottle from off of the ground and pouring it onto the paint.

The paint did not as much as smudge.

"Uh," Steve scrambled to read the label on the paint can, suddenly looking far less confident, "Shit."

Natasha burst out laughing. Peggy placed her hand over her mouth in an effort not to laugh at her frowning boyfriend. Bucky just sighed loudly.

"Alright buddy, you've got your prom date. Now let's go to the hardware store and pick up some paint to paint over this mess before your dean sees this and loses his shit." Bucky suggested, wrapping an arm around Steve's broad shoulders and guiding him in the direction of the bus stop.

"I could have sworn that it was removable paint." Steve asserted sulkily as they walked away.

"Next time, why don't you just invite me along? I scored better than you on every reading exam in elementary school." Bucky reminded his best friend with a chuckle, their voices fading as they grew nearer to the edge of campus.

Natasha and Peggy dissolved into giggles once the boys were out of earshot.

"It looks like we have another Steve story." Peggy declared through fits of laughter.

"Come on. Let's get to the dining hall. I have to show Barton a picture of this." Natasha laughed, snapping a picture of the painted bleachers on her phone before leading Peggy to the dining hall.

* * *

"Where's my date? You didn't murder him, did you?" Sam asked as soon as Peggy and Natasha sat down at the table without Steve.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "No, we did not murder Bucky. He's gone to the hardware store with Steve. Your wonderful captain decided to paint the bleachers in a grand gesture to Peggy. Unfortunately, he didn't pay close enough attention to the fact that the paint was permanent."

"No way, Rogers vandalized school property?" Clint questioned gleefully.

"On accident!" Peggy protested with a small smile.

"He should have had more care when reading." Thor commented, shaking his head.

"Strong words spoken by the man who managed to do the exact opposite of the professor's instructions on their English exam." Loki countered with a smirk.

"I have done exceptionally well on my other exams. My grade point average is now above a 3." Thor informed Loki, tossing a crouton from his salad across the table at his brother.

Loki glowered at the crouton. "Perhaps we have Jane Foster to thank for that particular feat."

"Oh, not really," Jane shook her head, causing large strands of brunette hair to spill onto her face, "Thor really didn't need my help once he figured out a test-taking strategy that worked best for him. Contrary to what you might think, Loki, your brother is not stupid. He just never studied Midgardian culture like you did."

"While Thor's intelligence is a very fascinating topic, I really want to return to what Natasha was talking about earlier. Did you say that Steve and Bucky were going to repaint the bleachers?" Sam demanded, his eyebrows raised with curiosity.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Is there any chance of a paint fight happening?" Sam questioned.

"You know Steve just as well as I do." Natasha answered, her mouth twitching into a small smile before she returned her attention to her lunch.

"Right, yeah, I should go," Sam muttered, taking a large bite out of his meatball sub before standing up, "My captain needs me."

Everybody 'boo'-ed and rolled their eyes simultaneously, knowing that Sam's departure had nothing to do with his interests in being a loyal friend. It was far more likely that he was running off to dump a bucket of paint over Steve and Bucky when they weren't paying attention. No one could really blame him for that, either.

"Hey, so Steve asked Peggy to prom in a really cute way," Darcy remarked, turning to look at Loki expectantly, "why haven't you asked me to prom in a really cute way yet?"

"If you don't recall, you were the one who asked me to prom. If there was to be a spectacle, it was you who should have made it." Loki answered simply.

"Would you like a cute spectacle?" Darcy teased, waggling her eyebrows.

"I have never objected to a fuss being made in my name." Loki responded with a smirk.

Hearing this exchange, Thor turned to look at Jane with an inquisitive look. From what he had gathered over the past few days, it seemed that everyone enjoyed having spectacles made over them when it came to prom, his brother included. He could not help but wonder if Jane wanted the same sort of treatment.

"Would you like a fuss made in your name?" He inquired in a low voice, watching Jane's face for any type of reaction.

Jane smiled, but shook her head. "I don't really like being the center of attention."

Thor nodded to himself, also smiling. Jane Foster was so different from his other Midgardian classmates. It was puzzling, but not entirely unwelcome.

"You know what? I think I'm going to bring this sandwich back to my room. I've got a lot of work to do and if I hear about anyone else's cute prom invitation I think I'm going to explode." Pepper remarked, gathering up her books and holding her sandwich in her mouth while she collected her belongings.

No one paid much attention to Pepper's departure; they were all much too preoccupied with their own prom drama.

Pepper let out an annoyed huff as she walked through the deserted halls of the dorm. Tony really needed to step up his game. All of her friends were making plans and getting asked to prom in a romantic way – even Loki was getting a fuss made over him – while she sat around and hoped that her billionaire boyfriend remembered that prom existed.

As she reached her room, she resolved to bring it up the next time she saw Tony. If she had to be the one to ask him to prom, so be it. Either way, she was going to get the fuss that she had been hoping for.

She smirked to herself as she opened the door, but the smirk immediately fell from her face. Standing in her room was the most massive teddy bear that she had ever seen in her life. Tony Jr. was standing next to the teddy bear. The robot was clutching a massive box of Kit Kats (Pepper's favorite candy) and a piece of paper with the word 'Prom?' written in terrible handwriting.

* * *

"So, uh, Buck, I was thinking. I know that you probably have a date on prom night, but it'd be pretty cool if you could go to our prom too. I could set you up with someone if you want. I don't think that Maria is going with Bruce, or maybe that new girl Sarah…" Steve speculated as he and Bucky painted the bleachers the metallic color that they had been before Steve's painting mishap.

Bucky looked up from where he had been attempting to paint over the 'M'. He smiled sheepishly and returned his attention to the bleachers.

"Way ahead of you, buddy. I've already got a date to your prom." He answered, not looking up from his painting.

Steve, however, stopped his painting. He turned to look at Bucky in surprise. While Bucky had always been much better at romantic endeavors, Steve couldn't remember a time when his friend had left his side in order to talk to anyone about being a prom date. Natasha wouldn't have agreed to be his date, would she?

"You have a date? Who could you have possibly –"

"Hey! How is it that neither of you are covered in paint yet?" Sam demanded from a few feet away, approaching the boys with a wide smile.

Bucky ran a hand through his hair, leaning a bit closer to Steve. "I, uh, I'm going with Sam."

Steve's jaw dropped with an audible pop as Sam bounded up to the boys. Sam, completely unaware of the conversation that the pair had just had, proceeded to wretch Steve's paintbrush out of his hand and dunk it in a bucket of paint before painting a distinct stripe across Steve's chest.

"Come on, you've got two buckets of paint here. How have you not had a paint fight? It's time to set things right." Sam announced cheerfully.

"So, uh, so you guys are going to prom together?" Steve finally asked, looking between Bucky and Sam with wide eyes.

"Oh, you told him? Couldn't wait to brag about it, huh, Barnes?" Sam teased, nudging Bucky in the ribs with his elbow.

Bucky immediately punched Sam's shoulder good-naturedly, chuckling all the while. He turned to look at Steve again, his smile fading only slightly.

"Yeah, well," He muttered, clearing his throat in a businesslike manner, "it was killing two birds with one stone. Sam was desperate for a date with a pulse and I was desperate to get into the prom without being escorted out by your terrifying administrators. It made sense."

Sam gasped in a playfully scandalized way, "Do you mean to tell me that you are just using me for a ticket to the prom? Bucky Barnes, I am insulted. You think you're so smart – you can pay for dinner now."

"Y-you're getting dinner too?" Steve asked, his voice hitching in a strange way.

"Of course we are. I couldn't bring a date to the prom without buying them dinner first. That would just be indecent." Sam replied with a grin.

Steve nodded, chewing on his thumb nail despite the excessive amount of paint on his fingers. "No, yeah, I get that. I, uh, I guess I just didn't know that you'd be interested in going to the prom with a guy, Buck."

"Is that a problem?" Sam demanded, bristling slightly.

Steve shook his head immediately. "No, no, god, no. I, uh, I think everyone is great, man or woman. I had a crush on this guy at summer camp once, uh, Billy. I mean, Bucky is...I just…he's only dated girls before. I just, I didn't know, that's all."

"Yeah, well, now you do," Bucky muttered, resuming his painting, "now we should probably get back to painting before your stupid permanent paint settles."

* * *

Natasha pounded on the door to Clint's room, tucking the box of bandages that she had brought with her under her arm. "Barton, open up. If you don't open this door in the next ten minutes, I'm going to assume that you're dead."

Clint had gotten injured by a particularly severe blow to the head during sparring class and had run off before the professor could even check his vitals. Natasha had attempted to chase him down before he could make it to his dorm room, but it seemed that even with the imminent threat of a resurfacing concussion, Clint ran surprisingly fast. Natasha was a bit too proud of that particular detail.

"Clint, I am going to break down this door if you don't open it!" Natasha threatened loudly.

"Damn it." Clint sighed from the other side of the door, the sound slightly muffled. A few seconds later, the lock to the door clicked open.

"I just –" Clint started, but before he could finish, Pizza the dog bolted out of the room while sporting a bow tie. Natasha arched an eyebrow and turned to look at Clint, waiting for some type of explanation.

"Shit, no, Pizza, come back!" Clint hissed, immediately taking off after the dog.

Natasha rolled her eyes before following her boyfriend, hoping that they would be able to catch Pizza before anyone else saw him. If any school administrators saw Pizza, the dog would be taken away and Clint would be devastated. Clint and Natasha chased the dog all over campus. They ran past the dining hall, through the numerous fields, past where an archery class was being taught (something that nearly sidetracked Clint and nearly killed Natasha), until finally they reached the football field. Pizza trotted onto the field easily, oblivious to the fact that he was causing so much trouble.

"Pizza, no!" Clint hollered, rushing after the dog just a minute too late.

Before anyone could catch the dog, Pizza ran straight onto the bleachers, causing paint to stick to his paws and fur.

"What the – Barton, is this your dog?" Steve asked, turning to look at Clint with furrowed eyebrows.

"Why is it wearing a bowtie?" Bucky added, staring at the dog in disbelief.

"Yes, that is Clint's dog and I'll kill anyone who tells Fury about it," Natasha explained, striding over to the dog and grabbing his collar, leading him over to Clint, who immediately clipped a leash on him, "Clint brought him back from Budapest. Please don't ask me why. I ask myself that almost every day."

"What else was I supposed to do, leave him there to fend for himself? That would have been wrong." Clint replied in a huffy tone.

Natasha smiled at her boyfriend fondly. He was one of the most absurd boys at S.H.I.E.L.D., but he had a good heart in his chest. That was a lot more than the majority of the school's students had going for them. Natasha wasn't even sure that she could make the same argument for herself.

"Is anyone ever going to explain why the dog is wearing a damn bow tie?" Bucky persisted, gesturing towards where the dog was getting paint all over Clint.

Natasha looked down, noticing that her own outfit was a lost cause. Where mud and grass had managed to miss her pants, Pizza had managed to get metallic paint all over her clothes. It would be difficult to avoid suspicions when she had massive paw prints running up the side of her leg.

"I would love to explain the bow tie to you, Bucky, but unfortunately, I have to worry about getting a big dog back into my dorm room without Fury seeing me." Clint responded, looking around the football field anxiously.

"He's only got one eye, so you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting by him." Sam remarked with a shrug.

Steve rolled his eyes. "You can take one of the painting tarps. We're almost done, anyway. Or; we were almost done until your dog messed up the paint."

"Shouldn't have defaced school property." Clint remarked, throwing the tarp over Pizza and scooping the dog up with only a bit of difficulty.

"Alright, get out of here." Steve grumbled, turning around to continue his efforts at repainting the bleachers.

"Why is Pizza wearing a bow tie? Please tell me that you're not going to be one of those guys who dress up their dogs." Natasha commented as they walked back to the school.

Clint grinned despite the fact that he was struggling with holding Pizza, who wanted to continue running around campus without a leash. "It's stupid."

"Of course it's stupid, there's a dog wearing a bow tie. You have to tell me anyway." Natasha replied, rolling her eyes.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "I  _have_  to tell you?"

Natasha nodded. "We're dating. Apparently couples tell each other everything."

"And you've told me everything?" Clint couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice.

Natasha shrugged, scowling slightly. "I've told you everything that matters. Anyway, dog. Bow tie. Explain.

"Fine," Clint sighed in resignation, "I was going to get Pizza to ask you to prom for me."

Natasha's eyebrows shot up. She looked between Pizza, who was now a bundle of tarps, and Clint, who was blushing profusely. She couldn't decide whether her boyfriend's answer was comical or disturbing.

"You do know that he can't talk, don't you?" She asked hesitantly.

Clint snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know that Pizza can't talk. He was going to wear a bow tie and have some kind of prom question on his collar. It was going to be very cute and well thought-out, but you ruined it."

Natasha stared at Clint for another moment or two before bursting out laughing. " _I_  ruined it? You were going to ask me to prom with a dog!"

"You would have loved it." Clint insisted, his mouth twitching into a smile.

"I would have hated it." Natasha laughed, shaking her head.

"Alright, how would you have preferred that I ask you?" Clint demanded, arching an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Covered in mud and paint while sneaking a dog into the dorm." Natasha deadpanned with a smirk.

Clint laughed and shook his head. "So is that a yes?"

"That is a yes." Natasha laughed, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"Nobody's seen Tony yet?" Pepper asked at dinner, looking around the table curiously.

Everybody shook their head before resuming their conversation about prom. It was at the end of the week, after all. Plans had to be made, dates sent, rides arranged, and the works. Tony Stark was the least of anybody's worries.

Peggy, Pepper, Sam, and Clint settled into a conversation about the prom questions and catastrophes they had faced over the course of the day. Bucky questioned Natasha on what Clint's dog had been doing wearing a bow tie. Bruce and Jane discussed an astrophysics lecture that was being held at NYU later in the month and agreed to go together. Maria and Thor compared history notes in an effort to better prepare themselves for their final the next day. Steve remained unusually quiet, but due to everyone else's occupation, no one really noticed.

Right as Pepper reached the end of her story about Tony's prom invitation, Loki turned to look at Darcy with an amused grin. "I am still waiting for my own romantic invitation."

Darcy rolled her eyes and frowned. "Never use the word romantic."

"Hey, what about you, Maria?" Pepper asked from across the table, "Do you have a date to prom yet?"

"Oh, um, no, I don't really think that I'm going to go, actually. I'm just not really the 'prom' type. Bruce and I are probably just going to hang out at Stark's place." Maria answered, her face reddening slightly.

Bruce pretended to be extremely interested in the lecture flyer that Jane had given him in order to avoid the entire table's stares. He knew that everyone would want to know whether or not their plans to 'hang out' qualified as a date – Bruce was wondering that himself – but the very last place that he wanted to figure out the answer to that question was at the dinner table.

Luckily, no one objected to Maria's statement. While no one would say it, it couldn't be denied that prom would not be the best venue for someone with Bruce's temperament. Instead, Sam immediately changed the subject to something that everyone could participate in without any awkward remarks: prom weekend.

Prom weekend was a tradition in every school in the country, as far as the students of S.H.I.E.L.D. were concerned. It was the weekend where students went out and got a taste, just a taste, of the freedom that awaited them in college. S.H.I.E.L.D. students were already booking flights and hotel rooms in anticipation.

While the entire table was debating whether or not they wanted to leave New York, Tony Stark burst through the dining hall door.

The billionaire rushed past the food and straight to the table, waving pieces of paper in the air as he jogged through the dining hall. No one could really understand the full sentences coming out of his mouth, but they heard enough key words (i.e. 'calc,' 'Dr. H,' and 'Steve') to know that he was holding Steve's calculus exam.

Steve immediately leapt out of his seat and rushed to meet Tony halfway, not waiting for the boy to reach the table. The football player nearly knocked the billionaire over in an effort to get a better look at his grade.

"You passed, Rogers! You got a one hundred and two percent – highest grade since I took the class!" Tony bellowed excitedly.

Steve pulled Tony into a bone-crushing hug. Tony would deny it later, but Steve actually lifted the billionaire off of his feet in the midst of his excitement. Tony would also deny that the hug left bruises on his body for a few days afterwards.

In order to make the scene even more unnecessarily dramatic than it already was, Natasha leapt out of her seat and started a slow clap. Clint quickly followed suit, joined by Sam shortly after. Within seconds, the entire cafeteria was clapping and cheering (although some didn't really know why) while Steve held Tony in an organ-threatening hug.

"Alright, alright, get off of me, Rogers. You're like a slobbering golden retriever. Everyone is going to think that we just got engaged if you don't let me go." Tony grumbled, struggling against Steve's tight grip.

"Sorry, man," Steve chuckled, snatching his test out of Tony's hands before following the billionaire back to the table.

"So, what were you all talking about before Steve decided to have a Brokeback Mountain moment with me?" Tony asked, sliding into the empty seat next to Pepper.

Steve rolled his eyes. "It was a hug, Stark. I'm graduating, cut me some slack."

Tony smirked at Steve, but turned his attention to the rest of the table.

"We were talking about what we're going to do for prom weekend. There's no doubt in my mind that you already have an opinion on what we should do." Pepper replied, leaning a bit closer to her boyfriend, unable to hold back a smile.

Tony's smirk grew. "As a matter of fact, I do. We should all stay at Stark Towers."

"Stark Towers?" Natasha echoed, her voice dripping with disdain.

"Why not?" Tony asked with a shrug, "There's plenty of room – everyone could have their own room if they wanted – there's no adult supervision, and the place is right in the middle of New York City. I've got a built-in movie theater and a platinum credit card. We could drink without worrying about parents or cops, we could eat shit loads of takeout food, and we could tear up the city if we get bored; it could be fun."

"That does sound pretty cool." Sam murmured thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't mind not having parents hovering." Darcy agreed, biting her lip slightly.

"Dying to hook up with your boytoy without any parental judgment?" Clint teased.

"Shut up." Darcy and Loki both growled immediately.

"If it is anything like Christmas break, I would enjoy it immensely. Thank you for the kind offer, Tony." Thor said, smiling and nodding at Tony.

"If it's unsupervised, I'm in," Natasha remarked, her eyes flicking over Tony briefly, "Even if Stark is going to be there."

"Are Jefferson students invited too?" Peggy asked, leaning forward to get a better look at Tony.

Tony smiled. "Ah, what the hell? Rogers, you can bring your girlfriend and your boyfriend," Tony nodded to Bucky with a smirk, "The more the merrier."

The plan was immediately approved. The majority of the table began to discuss the details, such as who would supply the alcohol, what sorts of food they would order out, and who would sleep in what rooms. Meanwhile, Bruce stared down at his food glumly.

He supposed that he should have known that Tony would offer his mansion to anyone who might want it during prom weekend, he had just been so wrapped up in the plans he had made with Maria to really consider it. Now, he would only have a few hours to hang out with her before the rest of their new friends invaded the Tower.

Maria did not seem nearly as preoccupied with the news as Bruce was. She was smiling and nodding as Sam emphatically argued that Tony should provide everything – even clothes and spending money – for the weekend.

After about twenty more minutes of discussing prom weekend plans, Jane excused herself in order to finish her astronomy homework. Thor excused himself as well, claiming that he needed to finish studying in order to get 'A's on the rest of his exams.

* * *

"Um, okay, I think I'm almost done mapping out the constellations. Do you think I should include Venus? It isn't part of the quadrant that I was assigned, but it usually isn't this visible in New York." Jane speculated, chewing on the end of her pen thoughtfully.

"If there is room for you to include it, I do not see why you should not." Thor answered with a small smile.

Jane returned the smile. "That's what I was thinking too. Okay, when did Columbus discover the Americas?"

"1492. I remember that year well." Thor answered, nodding his head.

"Good, I think," Jane laughed, squinting up at the sky thoughtfully, "Which president was Alexander Hamilton?"

"The third?" Thor responded, his voice hitching in an inquisitive manner.

Jane turned around and wrinkled her nose at Thor. "I got you. He wasn't a president; he was just the secretary of the treasury. Which political party was he in?"

"The Federalist party," Thor answered with an amused grin, "I would appreciate it if you did not attempt to fool me again."

"Hey, I'm just helping you study." Jane responded with a laugh.

She shut her lab notebook and plopped down next to Thor on the grass, resting her head on her boyfriend's broad shoulder.

Thor smiled down at her for a moment before speaking again. "I have noticed that you have not been speaking much about the prom."

Jane shrugged, curling a bit closer to the demi-god. "I don't really care about the prom that much. School dances are fun, I guess, but the prom is so serious. It's the end of high school. Everybody is dressed up in uncomfortable clothes that their parents paid a fortune for and by the end of the night everyone is drunk and crying anyway. I guess I don't see the draw."

"Drinking can be very enjoyable if you're with the right people," Thor reminded her with a laugh, "Although I have been informed that it is not entirely legal for the majority of you to participate in any type of drinking at your age."

Jane wrinkled her nose and smiled up at Thor. "We can't all be thousands of years old."

"No, I suppose you cannot." Thor chuckled in agreement, "Regardless, the prom sounds enjoyable. We had similar events from time to time on Asgard. I would dislike for you to miss out on such a momentous occasion."

"Are you trying to ask me to prom?" Jane inquired coyly.

"I am." Thor admitted.

Jane laughed and looked up at the sky. "Tell you what: if you take me to Asgard, I'll take you to prom."

Thor grinned at her for a moment before looking up at the sky as well.

"Heimdall?


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Jane blinked as she began looking around the gold, spherical room that she suddenly found herself in. She clutched Thor's arm tightly, not quite trusting herself to move yet. As she looked around, she locked eyes with a tall man sporting gold armor and an odd looking helmet. The man's mouth twitched into a smile.

"Welcome to Asgard." He rumbled, his eyes - which were also gold - sparkling with amusement.

"Thank you." Jane spluttered dazedly.

She looked up at Thor, unable to comprehend exactly what had happened. There had been a burst of light, her stomach had dropped, and suddenly it felt like they were flying through a rainbow, of all things. Once the flying part was finished, she had opened her eyes and found herself in the excessively gold room.

Thor was smiling down at her in a combination of fondness and entertainment. It was clear that he was enjoying watching her gawk at her surroundings. Jane couldn't bring herself to mind very much. She was too busy trying to figure out what was going on.

"I would like to ask that you do not speak of my arrival to my father unless he specifically asks about my presence," Thor said to the man in golden armor, "I do not know if he would approve of my presence."

"He would not," The man in the golden armor remarked, "but your mother would. I have express orders from the queen to permit your presence on occasion, so long as I alert her to it."

"Your mom knows we're here?" Jane whispered, looking around the spherical room nervously.

She had heard a lot about Thor and Loki's mother. From what she had heard, it sounded like both of the boys liked their mother much better than they did their father. Loki had talked about her as though she had raised them singlehandedly.

"It would appear so," Thor responded with a slight sigh, "Thank you, Heimdall."

The man in the gold armor – Heimdall, from what Jane had made of the conversation – nodded and watched as Thor guided Jane out of the room with an amused smile.

Once they were outside, Jane could not help but gape at what she saw. The horizon on Asgard looked so much different than the horizon on Earth. It looked like the realm belonged in space. Every inch of the new world begged to be explored. Jane looked up at Thor, smiling widely. She could not wait to learn everything that she could about her boyfriend's home.

To her surprise, Thor wasn't looking at her. He was looking straight ahead with a goofy smile. Jane turned to see what he was looking at and froze when she saw a beautiful woman who looked like she might be middle aged – whatever that qualified as on Asgard – standing in front of them smiling widely.

"Mother!" Thor exclaimed happily, rushing forward to pull his mother into a hug.

"Thor, I am so pleased to see you. How is school? Is all going well? Has your brother made any friends? Heimdall spoke of a young woman following him around. Is he romantically involved with the young woman?" The woman - presumably Thor's mother - asked, her brows furrowing with concern.

Jane couldn't help but laugh at the allusion to Darcy. Her best friend would be annoyed to know that Loki's mom was spying on the pair and thought that they were dating. The sound drew Thor's mom's attention to Jane. Jane's face reddened.

"Mother, this is Jane Foster, a classmate of mine. We, ah," Thor looked like he was at a loss for words as he looked between Jane and his mother. Jane squirmed under the attention, not entirely sure that asking to visit Asgard was her greatest idea after all.

"Oh, yes, we know exactly who you are, Jane Foster. Sif told us much about you over your spring break. It is wonderful to finally meet you." Thor's mom responded, rushing forward to hug Jane.

"Oh, thanks, um, it's really nice to meet you, too. Thor and Loki have talked about you so much." Jane remarked, looking up at Thor a bit desperately.

"I would not have come here if not for Jane. She was curious about Asgard. She studies the convergence, as Heimdall does." Thor explained.

His mom nodded, still smiling. "Yes, Heimdall has told us much about Jane's studies. I have heard that you are an exceptional scholar. Come; let us dine before you continue your exploration. After you eat, you might consider visiting our library. Speaking to Heimdall would teach you much additional information on the stars and the realms as well. We are a bit ahead of your learnings."

Thor nodded before taking Jane's hand in his and smiling down at her. The pair then followed Thor's mom into a massive palace, where lunch was already being prepared for them. Apparently Thor's mom had either gotten Thor's dad to accept his presence or had managed to keep it a secret thus far.

The three ate a sizable lunch. Jane was not entirely accustomed to the food that they ate, but it all tasted much better than the food in the dining hall. She enjoyed hearing stories about Thor and Loki's childhood. She also enjoyed hearing about the current events that Thor had missed while attending school. At the end of the lunch, Thor's mom instructed the pair to return to the kitchen before they left in order to bring some food back to Midgard with them. Thor promised that he would do so before whisking Jane off in the direction of the library.

The library was better than Jane could have ever expected. Asgard was way ahead of Midgard on nearly every subject matter. It wasn't hard to see why Thor was so good at astronomy. She couldn't help but wonder why his parents would ever think about sending him anywhere else for school.

She continued to sift through the library, completely absorbed in discovering some secrets of the universe that Asgard had kept to themselves. Jane didn't even realize how much time she had spent pouring over books until Thor placed a hand on her shoulder lightly. She looked up from a book that explained the gravitational pull of each realm in great detail.

"Jane, it is getting late. If we have any hope of escaping Odin's notice, we must leave soon." He explained softly, smiling down at her.

Jane looked around the library wildly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she did. She smiled up at Thor sheepishly.

"I guess I can't check out books like a normal library, can I?"

Thor looked around thoughtfully. He cracked a smile and shrugged. "Odin might notice if you clear all of the books out of the library, but one or two missing books would not be unheard of. Once you are finished those, I will bring you back for another."

"Really?" Jane asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"You have my word." Thor answered with a fond grin.

Jane smiled before closing the book and tucking it under her arm. "Okay, I guess we had better get going. Should we stop by the kitchen to get whatever food your mom left there?"

"Yes; Loki will be most unpleasant if we do not bring him back a few fyrstekakes." Thor responded, wrapping an arm around Jane's shoulders and guiding her in the direction of the kitchen.

Within ten minutes – or maybe it was longer than that, Jane could not for the life of her find any way to keep track of time on Asgard – the pair was back on Midgard. Heimdall had placed them just outside of Jane's dorm. Thor offered to walk her to her room.

Upon opening the door to her dorm room, Jane found Darcy and Loki sitting on Darcy's bed throwing cards at each other and yelling about the rules of some card game. Jane didn't bother asking which game they were playing; it would only start another argument.

"Thor, there you are. Where have you been?" Loki demanded indignantly, his eyes straying down to the large box in Thor's hands.

"Asgard." Jane answered excitedly. Judging from the frown that appeared on both Thor and Loki's face, this was not the correct thing to say.

"You went home? Why did you not think to bring me along?" Loki asked, standing up off of the bed and approaching Thor with an angry expression.

"I did not know that Heimdall would even allow me home," Thor replied, holding out the box towards Loki as some kind of peace offering, "Jane Foster asked to visit while we were doing homework and Heimdall obliged. Mother sends her love, as well as fyrstekakes."

Loki arched a skeptical eyebrow at Thor before snatching the box from him. "You were a fool to return without father's permission," The lanky boy murmured, digging a pastry out of the box and taking a large bite out of it, "Especially if you went simply for the sake of a slight Midgardian girl."

Thor, Jane, and Darcy all scowled at Loki while he ate the pastries in a rather fast succession.

"Well, now, Loki, it seems that you have quite a bit of energy on your hands if you must take some of it out on Jane Foster. Your energy would be much more usefully employed if you were to assist Jane and I with the volunteer work we have signed up for tomorrow. Darcy, you are welcomed to join as well if you finish studying." Thor remarked, folding his arms across his chest.

"I do not think that is a proper use of my energy." Loki replied, shaking his head.

Thor looked around the room before shrugging. "Very well. I am sure that you will have a pleasant day studying with Darcy Lewis."

Loki looked back at Darcy before scowling at Thor. They both knew that spending the day with Darcy while she was studying was far worse than any amount of tedious volunteer work. She paced, ranted, and raved about the subject material for hours on end. As Loki did not have too many other close friends, he did not have many, if any, other options. It was either tolerate Darcy or force himself to do volunteer work for a realm that he loathed.

The lanky demi-god sighed. "What time should I set my alarm for?"

* * *

"Wow Rogers, I hardly recognized you without Peggy and Bucky hovering around you." Natasha teased as Steve rushed down the hallway towards her.

Steve couldn't help but smile. "Graduation practice. Hopefully theirs will be slightly less dramatic than ours. And how about you? I hardly recognize you in business clothes." He gestured to the attire that Natasha had selected to wear during her speech.

She didn't look bad, of course. Natasha never looked bad. It was something that Steve both liked and hated about her. This was different, though. She didn't look any less threatening in a blazer and pencil skirt with her hair pulled tightly back. If anything, she looked more threatening. She looked like she was about to send twenty men to jail on a jaywalking lawsuit.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to be dressing like this ever again."

"No, I didn't, I mean, you look good," He assured her awkwardly. He stopped short when he saw the amused smirk playing on her lips, "Aw, you know that you're gorgeous, stop fishing for compliments. And, uh, don't tell Peggy about this?"

"Don't tell Peggy that you're still a stammering mess every time I wear a skirt?" Natasha clarified, watching Steve in amusement, "I mean, I don't think she would be surprised."

Steve shook his head, trying to glare at Natasha unsuccessfully. "Let's just focus on your speech."

"Less fun, but I guess that might not be a terrible idea. I don't think that it's going to be too bad. Please don't tell me that you're going to pace back and forth in front of the door until my class gets out like Stark did to you." Natasha remarked, glancing back at her door before smirking at Steve.

Steve laughed. "No, I thought I might just sit in the classroom and watch your speech for myself."

"How are you going to do that? You're not in my class and there aren't really any windows for you to climb in." Natasha reminded him, folding her arms across her chest.

Steve shrugged. "Mrs. Mandarin likes me. I had her a while ago, remember? There are perks to being nice to people, you know. This is one of them. Come on, let's get inside. You should get comfortable standing up front and I should figure out whose seat I'm going to steal."

Within moments, Natasha was standing in front of the entire class, speaking about whether toddlers in tiaras were morally acceptable or not. She refrained from swearing, using an overly sarcastic tone, and calling out anyone who looked at her funny.

Steve couldn't help but smile as he watched her perform her speech. For someone with an undying hatred of stupidity and ignorance, Natasha was great at knowing her audience and catering to them. She was making direct eye contact with everyone, she was using words that everyone could comprehend, and she was even smiling.

Her speech lasted about twenty-five minutes, five minutes over the required minimum. Once she finished, Steve clapped louder than everyone else in the class. Everyone looked at him like he was a bit off his rocker, but he didn't worry about it. He was too proud of Natasha.

"Now, does anyone have any questions for Miss Romanov?" The professor asked, looking around the room with a kind smile, clearly unaware of Natasha's intolerance of stupid questions.

Steve chewed his thumb nail nervously. Natasha noticed her best friend's apprehensive behavior and smiled reassuringly. He returned the smile, still hoping that no one else would have any questions for her. She had laid out all of the necessary information, after all. Besides, it hadn't looked like anyone was paying too much attention. Perhaps the rest of the students were just waiting until the professor dismissed them.

Right as Steve was beginning to gather his belongings, Erik Lehnsherr's hand shot up. Judging from the smirk on the boy's face, his question was bound to be a stupid one.

"Uh, yeah, I have a question. Have you ever  _gone_  to a pageant? You can't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing if you've never  _been_." Erik remarked with a sneer.

Natasha's smile grew strained. Steve squirmed in his seat. Erik was trying to provoke Natasha into snapping; it was painfully obvious. That didn't matter to the professor, though. In order to receive credit for the presentation, Natasha would have to answer all of his stupid questions while maintaining her composure.

"No, I haven't been to a pageant," Natasha responded, her eyes narrowing slightly, "My entire speech was about the fact that I don't believe in them. I have read a series of interviews with children who have been put through the pageant process, though. From what I explained earlier, it is obvious that they do some psychological damage on the girls whose parents force them to participate."

"Yeah, but how do you know that the interviews weren't faked? We've all seen the TV show. Some of those kids look like they're having fun. Didn't you dress up for fun as a kid? I bet you did." Erik retorted, his eyes searching Natasha as though she was an open book.

Steve's muscles tensed while Natasha struggled to keep a smile on her face. Natasha couldn't call Erik out on being a massive tool, which just made it worse. Steve wasn't sure that he had ever believed in violence more than he did in that moment.

"My childhood doesn't have anything to do with my presentation. You're allowed to have your own opinion if you want. Anyway, that is the information I found. Thank you." Natasha stated testily.

The redhead attempted to rush back to her seat, but before she could do that, the professor insisted on giving her feedback in front of the entire class. Steve could not focus on what sort of feedback she was receiving. He was too busy glaring at Erik.

Once he was sure that the professor wasn't looking, Steve leaned across the aisle of desks and elbowed Erik in the ribs. Erik let out a stifled yelp and turned to look at Steve with wide eyes.

"You're a sophomore on the junior varsity football team, aren't you?" Steve inquired, his eyes darkening with anger.

"Yeah, why?" Erik responded cautiously, looking hopeful yet suspicious.

"Trying out for varsity next year?" Steve continued.

Erik nodded, looking even more hopeful.

"I'll be telling next year's captain about this," Steve growled, "Whoever it is, I'm sure they'll be interested to hear that you aren't what I'd consider a team player."

* * *

At five thirty in the morning two days later, Loki Odinson was awoken from an uncomfortable slumber by the sound of an incoming text message. He rolled his eyes when he saw that the text was simply from Darcy Lewis, demanding that he bring coffee to the girls' common room to aid her in her endeavor to study for her finals.

The lanky demi-god glanced across the room at where Thor was snoring. Loki only had about half an hour until his brother would be awake and full of energy. He had to make use of what little time he had.

Rubbing his eyes, Loki stumbled out of his room and into the hallway, scrolling through the contacts list on his phone as he did. Once he came across Bruce Banner's contact information, he hit the 'call' button and leaned against the wall sleepily.

It took three rings for the mop-headed boy to answer his phone. When he did, his words were slurred and incoherent. Loki rolled his eyes and waited for Bruce's words to begin to make sense before speaking.

"Good morning, Banner. I apologize for waking you, but I must warn you. Today is the day that you must confront Professor Schmidt on my behalf. You still have a few hours to wait, as my brother has enlisted me in volunteer hours alongside of Jane Foster. However, upon my arrival I fully expect you to know the location of Professor Schmidt." The demi-god drawled, his eyes flicking around the deserted hallway as though he expected someone to be wandering the halls at five-thirty in the morning.

There was a long pause. Loki let out an exasperated sigh and stared at the wall, waiting for Bruce to reply. It seemed like ages before he received any type of response.

"Why today?" Bruce asked reluctantly.

"Because I fear that waiting until next week will result in my absence during graduation." Loki answered, rolling his eyes to himself.

"Right," Bruce sighed dismally, "Yeah, okay. I guess I'll get to campus by noon. Any idea when you're going to get back?"

"No. Just remain with Professor Schmidt until I contact you." Loki replied, glancing at the closed door of his dorm room as he heard Thor begin to move around the room. It appeared to be time to prepare for the volunteer work that they were forced to do.

"But what if-"

"I am sure that you can handle it." Loki snapped, hitting the 'end call' button before Bruce could waste his time with any more words of protest.

He slid his phone into his back pocket before padding into his dorm room, dreading the hours of volunteer work waiting for him at the nearby animal shelter.

The second he entered his room, Thor threw clothes at him and hurriedly chose his own clothes. The boys got ready in an astonishingly short amount of time before rushing over to the girls' dorm in order to collect Jane Foster. After receiving a number of insistent texts, Loki had folded and brought a large cup of coffee from the small café in between the dorms for Darcy.

"Took you long enough!" Darcy exclaimed as soon as Loki and Thor entered the girls' common room where she had been pacing and quizzing herself with a colossal stack of notecards. She darted across the room and snatched the coffee out of Loki's hands before he could make any kind of patronizing comment.

"You might consider thanking me." Loki reminded her in an annoyed voice.

Thor placed a hand on Loki's shoulder in an effort to silence him. "Is Jane ready to leave?"

Darcy shrugged, taking a sip of coffee and wincing as she burned her tongue. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since last night. I've been down here since dinner. I'm going to kick this final's ass."

"If she is not awake, I will be returning to my own bed." Loki informed his brother.

Thor rolled his eyes before climbing up the stairs to wake Jane up, leaving Loki and Darcy alone in the common room.

"You should quiz me." Darcy stated, holding out the massive stack of notecards towards Loki.

He scowled down at them. "I thought that you were already confident in your abilities."

"I just want to double check."

"I am sure that you are perfectly capable of checking on your own."

Darcy stuck her tongue out. "You just want me to fail."

"It is my dream." Loki responded with a satirical smile.

"Jane Foster is ready to go." Thor proclaimed, interrupting the bickering as he returned to the common room.

"I see that she has mastered the art of invisibility in our absence." Loki remarked, gesturing towards empty space which did not contain Jane Foster.

Thor smirked at Loki good-naturedly. "She will join us shortly. She must gather the necessary paperwork."

"Of course." Loki grumbled, sinking into a nearby chair.

"Thor, will you quiz me?" Darcy asked, approaching the blond demi-god and holding out her notecards once more.

"Oh, he would do a terrible job." Loki commented, sitting up a bit and glaring at Darcy.

"Hey, you said no. I'm making do with what I've got." Darcy responded, glaring right back at Loki.

Thor chuckled. "As much as I appreciate being included, Darcy, I fear I must decline. I hear Jane now; we must be going."

Darcy turned to Loki. "Are you sure that you'd rather go with those two than help me study?"

"I am positive." Loki replied with a slight smile.

"I hope a dog poops on you." Darcy muttered, swatting the back of Loki's head with her stack of notecards as she passed him.

"I hope you fail your exam." Loki countered, unable to keep the amused edge out of his voice.

* * *

"Pass me a piece of pizza, would you?"

"I'll trade you for a red bull."

Steve tossed a can of red bull at Bucky, throwing it a bit harder than he probably should have, and received a slice of buffalo chicken pizza as a reward. He grinned and took a massive bite before returning his attention to the movie. Batman, Bucky's favorite.

The two boys had been locked away in Bucky's basement since Steve had finished helping Natasha with her speech. They were both done finals and had nothing to do but sit and wait until graduation. Once they had both realized that they were free of any academic obligations, Steve had suggested that they have a movie night, one like the movie nights they had had before Bucky got a social life and  _way_  before Steve got a girlfriend.

Bucky had immediately agreed to the idea. They rushed to the grocery store in order to buy enough red bull to last a normal human being ten years, they visited the diner and picked up five large buffalo chicken pizzas, and they collected every single superhero movie that either of the boys owned. Two days later, they were still sprawled out on the couch, wearing the same clothes and looking something like unshowered mole people.

"D'you think that there'll ever be a Batman like Keaton?" Bucky asked, gesturing towards the TV before turning to look at Steve, his head cocked inquisitively.

"I thought that Christian Bale was good." Steve replied with a shrug.

Bucky snorted. "No you didn't."

"What was wrong with Bale?" Steve demanded.

"What was  _right_  with Bale?" Bucky retorted.

"You're just biased," Steve bit back, shaking his head slightly, "You love Keaton too much to admit that there might be another actor that can play Batman."

"No one else could play Batman." Bucky sulked.

"Maybe I could play Batman." Steve remarked, smirking.

"They'd never let you play Batman. You'd kill yourself doing stunts on the first day." Bucky argued, shaking his head and taking a long sip of red bull.

"I'd do great stunts. I could do that." Steve objected, pointing to where Batman was currently leaping off of a rooftop.

Bucky snorted again and shook his head, choosing not to further provoke Steve. He knew that if he even tried to argue, Steve would be out of the basement and onto the roof in a matter of seconds. The boy always thought he had something to prove.

"What, you don't think I can?" Steve demanded, his eyes lighting up with indignation.

"Sure you can, pal. Come on, why don't we just watch the movie?"

Steve looked at Bucky thoughtfully for a moment. Bucky held his breath, hoping that Steve would let the argument go. Unfortunately, after about thirty seconds of considering his options, Steve stood up and stomped up the basement stairs.

"Damn it. No, Steve,  _do not jump off the roof_. Ma, stop him, he's gonna kill himself." Bucky shouted, rushing up the stairs after his best friend.

* * *

Reading to cats. Loki had been assigned to  _read_  to  _cats_. He supposed that it was better than Thor and Jane's tasks: walking massive dogs and cleaning out cages, respectively. Regardless, he could not help but feel incredibly foolish as he flipped through a pile of books, unsure of what to read to the feline creatures surrounding him.

At once, he decided that he was being ridiculous. He pulled up his current reading material, Machiavelli's  _The Prince_. If it was good enough for him, it would surely be good enough for the cats.

To Loki's tremendous surprise, he had not been reading for more than five minutes before the cats began to climb all over him. One paced back and forth across the length of his shoulders, three managed to leap up onto his lap and were currently hissing at each other in an effort to gain more space, and the smallest cat of the lot was rubbing itself against his leg, purring loudly all the while.

"It would appear that you all have a taste for governing as well," Loki remarked, smiling down at the cats, "It would not surprise me if you sought revenge from the Midgardians. It seems that they have not treated you as well as they should have." He was speaking particularly to the cat with half of its left ear torn off. He decided that the cat's name should be Brynjar.

Before Loki had read even ten more pages, he had named nearly every cat in the room. Each of them had a distinct personality; something that Loki had not accounted for when he had first entered the room. Bjarte was the most intelligent of all of the cats, easily tricking his feline friends out of food, attention, or the ideal spot to lie. Erland did not quite fit in, something that Loki could sympathize with. Hillevi was a little spitfire who terrorized any cat that ventured within five feet of her. And Brynjar, well, Brynjar was the smallest and most worn cat in the room, but he was a warrior all the same. Loki was the fondest of Brynjar.

After forcing himself to read five more pages, Loki finally snapped the book shut with a resounding thump. The sound startled a few of the cats. Bjarte took advantage of his peers' distraction, leaping onto Loki's lap and pushing Erland off in one swift motion.

Instead of reading to the cats, Loki could not help but interact with them. He liked these cats so much better than the vast majority of the students at S.H.I.E.L.D. They could not talk, first of all. They also accepted him without requiring him to prove himself. He found that desirable in a friend.

Within moments, Loki found himself crouched on the floor in an incredibly undignified manner. He could not be bothered to think about whether or not he was acting dignified as he wrestled with the numerous cats occupying the room. He played with each in turn, even Erland, the group outcast.

An hour later – or maybe it was more, Loki had not been keeping track of the time – the imposing middle-aged woman with the clipboard entered the room to find him lying on the floor with Hillevi's teeth sink into his arm. She did not yell at him, as Loki had expected, but instead smiled at the sight.

"I see that you've taken a liking to the cats. Even Whiskers has warmed up to you. He's usually very skittish." The woman remarked, nodding towards Erland, who was curled up on Loki's stomach.

Loki blinked before running a hand over Erland's head. The cat leaned into the touch. Loki's mouth twitched into a smile. Both the boy and the cat did not pay much attention to the woman.

"Well, it's good to see that one of our volunteers can do their job correctly. Would you please hand me the small cat with the bad ear? A family is looking for a small cat and I think that he would be just the right fit." The woman said, holding out her hands expectantly.

Loki looked at Brynjar then back at the woman, his eyebrows furrowed. She was going to allow another family to adopt the poor tattered cat? That made no sense whatsoever. He had clearly had a difficult life and there was no telling what this new family would be like. They could tear his other ear for all this woman knew.

"No." Loki growled immediately.

"Excuse me?"

"No, you cannot allow another family to mistreat this creature." Loki responded, brushing the cats off of him so that he could stand up without hurting anyone.

"Mr. Odinson, you do know the purpose of this shelter, do you not?" The woman asked in a disgustingly condescending tone, "We take in animals with difficult pasts and place them in suitable new homes. Boots will do very well with the Burns family."

"He would not." Loki asserted.

"We cannot keep cats here for fear that they might not receive the ideal home. We have to find them all families." The woman argued.

"Then I will take him," Loki announced, "I will take them all, as a matter of fact. May I recover them in a week's time?"

"You want to adopt all of these cats?" The woman questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes." Loki answered immediately.

"You have to be over twenty-one years old in order to adopt an animal from the shelter." The woman stated suspiciously.

Loki snorted. "That is perfectly fine. I am over one thousand years old."

The woman looked at Loki like he was crazy before suddenly just shaking her head and throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You know what, just take them. You can pick them up a week from now. I'll just tell the Burns family that we have the perfect dog for them."

* * *

"I can't believe you just jumped off the roof." Bucky muttered, shaking his head and laughing as he and Steve sat in the living room.

"I can't believe that you jumped after me." Steve replied with a laugh of his own.

"Hey, I'm with you to the end of the line, pal. Even if you are the stupidest guy I've ever met." Bucky reminded him with a grin.

"James Buchannan Barnes, you had better not follow Steve off of any more roofs. Steve Rogers, you had better not lead him off of a roof again. You should know better. He just got his memory back a few weeks ago. This could have caused very serious damage to both of you!" Mrs. Barnes scolded, rushing into the room equipped with the bandages that she had left to find just moments ago.

Bucky and Steve exchanged sheepish smiles.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Barnes. I really didn't know that he would jump off the roof if I did. I promise that I won't jump off any more roofs." Steve assured Mrs. Barnes, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.

Mrs. Barnes' eyes narrowed just slightly as she poked at Steve's ribs, apparently checking for any bruising or cracking that might have happened. Bucky had landed right on top of him, after all.

"Yeah, ma, he'll probably just jump out of planes or off of a cliff." Bucky added with a slight smirk.

Mrs. Barnes inhaled sharply while Steve just leaned over and punched Bucky in the arm. Bucky yelped and clutched his arm.

"Ow, my arm hurts, you asshole. Do you not remember rolling over onto it?" Bucky cried out, clutching his arm and glaring at Steve reproachfully.

"Language, James." Mrs. Barnes growled.

"Yeah, Buck, watch that mouth of yours." Steve chuckled.

"Oh, you're not out of the doghouse either, Steve. Do not hit each other. You have already injured him enough." Mrs. Barnes chimed in, swatting at Steve.

"I never asked him to jump off the roof." Steve reminded everyone in the room, raising his hands as a form of surrender.

Bucky rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No one asked you to jump off of the roof either."

Steve shrugged with a sheepish grin. Mrs. Barnes rolled her eyes at the boys, but continued to check for broken bones and signs of internal bleeding as best she could. After about ten minutes, she finally finished and - after giving the boys yet another stern lecture - released them to continue their two day movie streak.

"I can't believe you gave me a black eye." Bucky grumbled as they plopped down on the couch. Steve chose not to draw attention to the fact that Bucky's legs were laid out across his lap.

"I didn't mean to. You fell on my fist." Steve reminded him with a chuckle.

"I'm going to look like I got into a street fight in my graduation pictures." Bucky sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Steve shrugged, still grinning. "Just tell all of the girls at Jefferson that you beat up a S.H.I.E.L.D. student. They'd probably be impressed. It could get you a date or two."

"Look at you, thinking up ways to impress girls," Bucky remarked with a laugh, "What happened my shy little Steve Rogers who wouldn't talk to a girl if his life depended on it?"

"Oh, he still exists. Y'know, the other night, Peggy asked if I'd want to go to the beach with her family for a week and I almost threw up." Steve admitted, ruffling his own hair with his hand nervously.

"Wow, she did? That's pretty serious. You should go." Bucky said, his eyebrows furrowing as he spoke.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You think so? I don't know, I don't really think that I'd be very good with that. I'm already so awkward around her parents. Can you imagine what it'll be like when I'm surrounded by her entire family with no escape for an entire week?"

"I don't know man. It's nice that she invited you. You've got to work at getting to know her family. You wanted her to get to know my mom, didn't you? People like it when their boyfriends and girlfriends get to know their family." Bucky responded, staring ahead at the TV screen.

Steve watched him for a moment before smiling and nudging Bucky's legs. "Yeah, well, what about you? Are you dying for someone that'll get along with your mom?"

"Yeah," Bucky admitted with a shrug, still not tearing his eyes away from the TV, "that'd be nice. It'd be cool to be with someone that felt like they were part of the family. Much better than bringing home another girl that my mom hates."

"And you think that Sam could be that person?" Steve pressed cautiously.

Bucky finally looked away from the TV. He didn't look nearly as annoyed as Steve had expected him to. Instead, he just looked pitiful. Of course, that could have been attributed to the black eye he was sporting. Steve raised an eyebrow inquisitively all the same.

"No." Bucky answered simply.

"No?" Steve echoed in surprise.

"No," Bucky repeated slowly, "Sam isn't that person. I've already told you, I don't want to  _date_  Sam. I'm just using him for a prom ticket. I just want to go to a prom where I'll have friends that actually matter to me."

"You could do a lot worse than Sam," Steve reminded Bucky with a small smile, "As his roommate, I think I'm obligated to say something like that. As you best friend, though, I think it's probably a good thing that you're not jumping into a relationship right before college. You're probably going to meet your soul mate in some bullshit poetry class."

"Nah, I don't think so." Bucky replied with a bashful smile.

Steve shrugged, laughed, and then turned his attention back to the movie as though he was genuinely interested in watching Batman chase after The Joker, despite the fact that he already knew what was going to happen. Bucky had made him watch the movie at least twenty times.

Bucky watched Steve for a few more moments before tearing his eyes away from his best friend in favor of watching something a bit simpler.

* * *

"So what's the plan, Romanov? Just going to wander into the computer science lab and hope that someone left a piece of paper with the plan and their name on it?" Tony Stark asked as he followed Natasha and Pepper down the hall towards the computer science lab.

Natasha rolled her eyes before turning to look at Pepper. "Why did you invite him along?"

"I didn't," Pepper replied, glancing back at Tony in exasperation, "He overheard me telling Loki that I had to miss the last student government meeting for this and insisted on following me. I thought you said that we wouldn't even know you were here, Tony."

"I lied," Tony admitted, "I didn't think you'd let me tag along unless I lied. I couldn't let you two run around the school trying to be master hackers. You'll be glad I came along once you realize how hard tracing browsing histories can be."

"I think that I might have some idea what I'm doing." Natasha bit back as they entered the computer lab.

Tony laughed and rolled his eyes, but didn't comment as Natasha approached the computer at the front of the room that was generally used by professors. She stared at it thoughtfully for a moment before typing login information.

"How did you get that password?" Pepper asked, peering over Natasha's shoulder.

"I have everyone's password in this school." Natasha answered, not taking her eyes off of the computer.

Tony smirked at Natasha before plopping down at one of the other computers and typing furiously fast. Pepper glanced at him warily, but remained by Natasha's side. The chances were better than not that if anybody was going to track down whoever had stolen the money it was going to be Natasha.

"Hey, I found Rhodey's account information," Tony remarked as Natasha continued to scroll through a series of complex-looking command boxes, "Pepper, come here, you've got to look at his browsing history. I can see every movie he's watched on Netflix. He's watched The Princess Diaries ten times." The billionaire burst out into laughter, the sound ringing through the silent lab.

Pepper shook her head, relieved that she was not relying on Tony to clear her name. His attention span was far too short with someone so intelligent.

"Alright, here we go. I can look at the browsing history of every computer science student that's been in here. If they were going to take the money, this is where they'd do it. They're smart kids. They wouldn't be sloppy enough to do anything like this on their personal computers." Natasha stated, not looking away from the monitor as she continued to type.

"Why has he watched this movie so much?" Tony murmured to himself, beginning to look more puzzled than amused.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Do you have anything?"

"Mm, I can see the account that took the money, but I can't get a name out of the system. They've set up a bunch of blocks to keep that from happening. They must have known that we'd try to find them this way." Natasha muttered, glaring at the monitor.

Tony let out a snort and leapt out of his chair. He strode over to where Natasha was standing and shoo-ed her out of the way. Natasha glared at him, but stepped aside, eager to see the billionaire fail at the same thing that she had. Pepper watched the proceedings doubtfully.

Tony immediately set to work, typing in a series of complex strings of coding. Natasha rolled her eyes and folded her arms across the chest after about five seconds of watching him work.

"You're pushing the system too hard. If you don't stop, you're going to bring down the whole network." Natasha warned him.

Pepper looked between Tony and Natasha nervously. Tony turned to meet Natasha's gaze and let out a laugh, shaking his head. It was clear that he did not think much of Natasha's warning. She shrugged to herself, knowing better than to argue with Tony Stark.

After a few more lines of code and intense mouse-clicking, Tony's eyes widened in surprise. Once he recovered from whatever had shocked him, he glared at the computer as though it had personally wronged him. Assuming that he had found the culprit that they were looking for, Pepper looked over his shoulder eagerly. She was surprised to see that the screen just had a command box reading 'No Internet Connection' across it.

Natasha stepped forward to get a better look at the monitor. As soon as she did, she let out a patronizing huff of laughter.

"I told you that you'd crash the system, you big idiot." She snapped.

"Well, who the hell would make a system that would go down so easily?" Tony bit back angrily.

" _Computer science students that know what they're doing_!" Natasha answered as though it was the most obvious answer in the world, "You are actually dumber than I thought. I didn't even know that was possible. We can talk about this later. We have to get out of here. Everyone is going to notice that the network is down and this is the first place that they're going to check. I don't think anybody here wants Fury showing up and asking what we were doing on a professor's account, do you?"

"Good point; let's go." Pepper agreed immediately, rushing towards the door.

As the trio rushed through the halls of the school, Natasha and Tony bickered none too quietly. Natasha was furious that Tony hadn't regarded her warning and was putting them all at risk of not graduating. Tony was indignant that Natasha felt that she had the right to say 'I told you so'. Pepper tried to hush them to no avail.

Once they reached the girls' common room, they began talking amongst themselves, largely ignoring Darcy and Loki, who were curled up on the sofa a few feet away, debating the best method to filibuster.

"Great plan, Romanov. Do you know how many security cameras are in that computer lab alone?" Tony hissed irritably, "We'll definitely get caught, and for what? We didn't find out anything other than the fact that your hacking skills are nonexistent."

"Don't worry about the security cameras, Stark. Barton is in the security office taking care of everything. Don't worry about not finding out anything, either. I found out more than enough for the both of us," Natasha replied smoothly, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should get ready to go downtown. Barton and I are going downtown for lunch."

"Oh, yeah, are you going to go dress shopping with us tonight?" Pepper asked, a smile breaking across her face for the first time since the trio had been in the computer science lab.

Darcy turned around and peered over the back of the sofa. "Yeah, you should come! I saw your homecoming dress. I could definitely use your opinion on dresses."

"You certainly could." Loki muttered from next to her.

Darcy turned around in order to smack Loki's arm and resume their argument, whatever it was they were arguing about now. From the sound of it, it had something to do with a cat and a torn ear.

Natasha rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, you invited Peggy and Peggy is forcing me to go."

"That's great! I'm glad you guys are friends. For a while there, it seemed like you were trying to kill each other." Pepper laughed.

"Oh, we were," Natasha agreed with a shrug, "We still might. Honestly, the only thing that's helping us avoid the temptation of homicide is that the other might have more interesting stories about Steve."

Tony snorted. "Does your life revolve around Rogers?"

Natasha glared at him, but didn't respond.

"As fascinating as this debate is, I'm afraid that I will have to interrupt you in order to make my departure. I must meet Bruce Banner. Darcy, you will likely fail your exam this afternoon. Natasha, you are excessively invested in Steven Rogers and I find it vaguely disturbing. Tony, you are also much too interested in Steven. Pepper, you might think of finding a more suitable companion than the one you have chosen for yourself." Loki declared, glaring at each person in the room individually before stalking off.

* * *

"Are you sure that he won't just listen to reasoning? Maybe you could offer to do some extra credit, tell him a few stories about Asgard. That'd be a lot simpler than getting a monster to scare him. We might be overreacting." Bruce reasoned as Loki approached him, both boys watching Professor Schmidt. The professor was currently sitting in his classroom, reading over Norse mythology.

Loki cast the mop-headed boy a dark look. "Schmidt is not a reasonable man. You know this as well as anybody else. We will attempt to speak to him first, but you must be prepared to threaten him in the barbaric way that you seem to fear. Remember Banner, Schmidt must sign this graduation form before I will assist you with your own problem."

Bruce nodded glumly, following Loki to the football field reluctantly. He did not relish the thought of unleashing the other guy for someone else's gain. Still, it was the only way that he was going to get Loki to help him out. He had to do it for the sake of his future.

Noticing Bruce's reluctance, Loki let out a sigh and forced himself to smile a bit. "You are not a monster, you know. You were just handed an incredible gift that you were wholly unprepared for."

The kind word had no positive effect on Bruce. On the contrary, it seemed to unsettle him even more. He looked at Loki as though the demi-god had grown seven heads. Loki raised an eyebrow uncertainly.

"That was…nice of you, Loki. I think?" Bruce commented, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I am capable of kindness." Loki informed Bruce, rolling his eyes.

"So, uh, so hey, have you figured out how to cure me yet? I don't mean cure exactly, I'm not sick or anything, I just, you know, the other guy…" Bruce stammered, glancing around on the off-chance that someone might be listening in on their conversation.

"I have come up with a suitable remedy for your current circumstance. I will 'cure' you, as you have so crudely put it, once Professor Schmidt has signed the form." Loki replied.

The pair approached the professor, who immediately noticed them. Schmidt smirked and watched them knowingly. Loki maintained eye contact despite the fact that chills were erupting down his spine. Bruce stared down at his shoes awkwardly.

"Ah, Mr. Odinson, Mr. Banner. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Schmidt asked, still smirking.

"I think we are all perfectly aware of the circumstances surrounding this meeting," Loki drawled, "Let's not dance around the subject. I have the graduation form for you to sign. If you are not feeling particularly inclined to sign it, I'm sure that Bruce could motivate you."

"Oh," Schmidt exhaled, his eyes lighting up slightly, "You have found a more suitable alliance for gaining control. I suppose you do not need a third member in your party?"

Loki glanced at Bruce, who looked like he was about to throw up. He rolled his eyes before sneering at Schmidt. Schmidt smirked back for a moment before accepting the graduation form from Loki. After scribbling his signature, he handed it back to Loki. Loki snatched it out of his hands immediately.

"We would be unstoppable." Schmidt called out as Loki and Bruce turned to walk back to the school.

Loki glanced over his shoulder smugly. "I am already unstoppable."

As the boys returned to the dorm, Bruce turned to look at Loki awkwardly. Loki already knew the question on the mop-headed boy's mind, but he decided against answering it before it was asked. He had been informed that that was not considered polite in any realm.

"I'm really glad that I didn't have to let the other guy come out and persuade Schmidt." Bruce said, beating around the bush shyly.

Loki nodded thoughtfully. "It is extremely surprising that he admitted defeat so easily. It is for the best, regardless. Allowing the monster to run free might have limited your chances at graduating."

"Yeah, speaking of graduating," Bruce mumbled, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "uh, I think I'd like to graduate. Do you think that you could help me out with, uh, with the other guy?"

Loki's mouth curved into a smirk. "I thought that you were never going to ask."

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"I never thought that a Norse god would be the one to get rid of the other guy, you know? I always thought that maybe if I studied hard enough, I would be able to come up with some kind of solution. How did you do it? Is it magic? It's got to be magic. Jane told the science club that Asgard has really advanced technology, though. She showed me a little bit of the book she brought back with her. Do you think that you and Thor could bring me back a book? I'd love to get my hands on that kind of information." Bruce chattered nervously, wringing his hands out as he paced the length of Loki's dorm room.

Loki looked up from where he was digging through his desk, his mouth twitching into a small smile. He knew that Bruce was only rambling because he was nervous. Loki could not blame him for his nerves, of course. He allowed the mop-headed boy to continue rambling on nervously.

"Wow, I guess after this I could finally visit an amusement park. I've always wanted to, but between my parents and the other guy, I've never really been able to go. Have you ever been on a roller coaster? I don't know if I'd like them or not but I'd like to find out." Bruce continued to ramble, looking around the room anxiously.

Thor and Jane were watching him with sympathetic smiles from across the room while Darcy was flipping through Loki's school planner absentmindedly. Bruce noticed their stares and fidgeted even more. Loki couldn't help but feel bad for the boy.

"Would you three mind stepping out? This is a private matter between Banner and I." Loki stated, looking around at the occupants in the room.

"What? No. This is my room too." Darcy objected immediately.

Thor and Jane both looked at her in amusement as they headed towards the door. Darcy glanced at her retreating friends before glaring at Loki challengingly. Loki rolled his eyes.

"This is not your room, Darcy." The lanky boy reminded her.

"It might as well be. I'm always here."

"Please do not remind me."

"I wouldn't have to remind you if you didn't try to kick me out."

"This is a delicate matter. You may return to the room for as long as you would like once I am finished with Bruce."

"Uh,  _finished_  with him? What the hell are you two going to do? Are you…you know?" Darcy clicked her tongue and winked at both of the boys.

"No!" Loki and Bruce answered immediately.

"Hey, you know, I don't judge," Darcy laughed, standing up and holding her hands up in surrender, "I'll leave you boys to it. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to have a fun time."

Loki rolled his eyes, but didn't dignify Darcy's taunts with a response. Instead, he waited until she had left the room and shut the door behind her before pulling out a bottle of pills.

"This is it?" Bruce asked as Loki handed the bottle over to him.

Loki couldn't help but smirk. "What did you expect? Did you think that I would wave a magic wand around and everything would be better? This has an element of magic in it – you will taste that particular element, trust me – but much of it is a product of science as well. I would explain the components, but Odin made Thor and I promise to keep this type of information to ourselves. We cannot risk advancing the human race too quickly. It would lead to chaos."

"Hm, you want me to take a pill without telling me any of the ingredients except for magic," Bruce muttered to himself, examining the bottle carefully, "I'm either crazy stupid or insanely trusting. Which do you think it is?"

"It is likely a combination of the two. Now, you will want to take a pill every six hours. I will supply you with more once you run out. Allow yourself a day to get the ingredients in your system before you test your limits." Loki replied simply.

Bruce nodded with a smile. "Great, yeah, thanks. I, uh, I think I'm just going to go back to Stark Towers and try these bad boys out. Thanks, man."

"You are very welcome." Loki allowed with a small smile, nodding his head, "While you try my concoction out, I think that I will submit this form to Coulson. I am sure that he will be very pleased to see that yet another student is graduating."

* * *

"Where are the girls?" Sam asked at dinner, looking around the half-empty dinner table.

"Getting prom dresses, man." Clint replied with a shrug.

"Ah, they're getting all dolled up for their dates? That's nice. Why aren't you with them, Hill?" Sam questioned, glancing at Maria, who was just trying to eat her grilled cheese in peace.

"Hey, where's Steve and Bucky?" Maria inquired in the hopes of diverting Sam's attention.

"He's having a movie night at Barnes' place. We probably won't see them until prom night. I don't know how those two spend so much time together without killing each other." Clint replied with a shrug.

Sam looked up from his food. "And they didn't invite me?"

"You live with Steve. How did you not know that's what he was doing?" Rhodey asked Sam in disbelief.

Sam threw his hands up, looking extremely insulted. "Am I supposed to ask where he's going every time he leaves the room? I thought that he would have the decency to invite me to a movie night with him and my date."

"Don't trust them alone together?" Tony teased, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Who, Bucky and Captain Little-ass? That's never going to happen. Steve's probably hoping for it, but Bucky's got better taste than that. Besides, Peggy's got Steve whipped." Sam replied, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and shaking his head.

"Hmm, I don't know," Tony taunted, "Maybe this is his last chance to hook up with Bucky before getting shipped off to some foreign country. They could be making out right now."

Thor cleared his throat, sensing that Sam was growing progressively uneasy as the conversation continued. "Loki, did you adopt ten cats while we were volunteering at the animal shelter?"

Loki looked up from where he had been eating his baked pasta, largely ignoring the conversation surrounding him. "Pardon?"

"Darcy mentioned that you are now the owner of ten cats. I informed her that she must be mistaken, but she was quite adamant. Therefore, I must ask you: did you adopt ten cats while volunteering in Jane's name?" Thor clarified, his mouth twitching into a smile.

"I might have." Loki answered evasively.

Everyone at the table besides Clint burst out laughing. Loki glared at each and every one of them like they had personally wronged him. In a way, he figured that they had. They were laughing at his noble act; they didn't seem to understand that the cats had been in danger of falling into the wrong hands.

"Uh, hey, Loki, buddy, why do you need so many cats?" Clint asked, eying Loki uncertainly.

Loki turned to look at Clint and immediately rolled his eyes. It was clear that the blond archer was concerned that Loki had some sort of ill-will towards the cats that he had adopted. It seemed that once a student threw another student out of a window, they were untrusted for the rest of their academic career.

"I am not going to hurt the cats, if that is what you are implying," Loki growled, his eyes narrowing, "The shelter was indifferent as to who had the opportunity to take care of the cats. An extremely unsuitable family attempted to adopt Brynjar without going through any type of training. They also wished to name him 'Boots'. I could not allow that to happen."

"So you just adopted ten cats?" Tony questioned, chuckling, "Dude, you're turning into a crazy cat lady."

Thor rolled his eyes. "What is so special about these cats, Loki? Surely they must have made quite an impression on you if you readily became their caretaker."

Insulted by the question, Loki immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket and went to the photo album he had created solely for the pictures he had taken of the cats at the shelter. He handed the phone over to Thor by way of explanation, grinning smugly as he did so.

Everyone at the table, aside from Thor, burst out into laughter all over again. Loki scowled. He could not understand what they found humorous about the situation.

"They are very handsome creatures." Thor stated, returning Loki's phone while the rest of the table laughed.

"What's wrong with the one's ear?" Maria asked, having looked at the pictures over Thor's shoulder.

Loki inhaled sharply, his face contorting into an expression that was the very definition of indignation. Sam noticed the look before anyone else and immediately changed the subject.

"I just can't believe that Rogers didn't invite any of us to his movie night. That was rude." He grumbled.

Clint rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous that Steve's got a boyfriend on the down low. Don't worry Sam. Your time is going to come eventually."

"Barton, you're an idiot. Steve just wanted to spend time with his best friend. I think it's nice. Besides, even if they did decide that they wanted to date, it isn't really your business. Sam, you asked Bucky on one date and the only reason you asked him was because Darcy said no." Maria remarked, staring at the boys as though they were the dumbest creatures on the planet.

"Hm," Tony murmured from across the table, "Yeah, you would know everything about friends dating, wouldn't you? You and Banner have been on top of each other ever since winter break."

"We're just friends." Maria asserted, her face burning with embarrassment.

Tony shook his head. "No you're not; you couldn't be. You're always together, you've brought Banner out of his shell in a way that no one's been able to do since Betty, and you're giving up prom just to sit around my place and watch some TV. Which, by the way, is a date."

"It is not a date. We're just two friends that are hanging out. He can't go to prom and I don't really have any interest in going. I'm sure you and Rhodey would do the same thing if you couldn't go to prom." Maria responded.

"Alright, let's take a vote. Who thinks that their prom plans are a date? Barton?"

Clint smiled, his cheeks bulging with pizza. "Nah."

"I think it's a date." Sam contributed.

Tony looked at Rhodey, who was next in line. The soldier in training shook his head vigorously.

"Consider me Switzerland." Rhodey muttered.

Tony rolled his eyes and turned to look at Thor expectantly. "Goldilocks?"

"That is entirely up to Bruce and Maria." Thor answered immediately.

Tony let out an exasperated huff. "Loki, man, back me up."

"I could not care about the conditions of Maria and Bruce's plans any less." Loki replied in a bored tone.

"See, Tony? You and Sam are the only ones who are really worried about Bruce and me watching a few movies. Since no one else seems to really care about the topic, I think I'm just going to change it. Thor, I heard that you took Jane to Asgard." Maria said, turning her attention to Thor.

Loki glared at his brother while Thor smiled sheepishly.

"Wait a minute, you took Foster to Asgard but you didn't invite any of us? Dude! If I got my hands on the technology you guys have got, I could change the world." Tony complained, frowning at Thor and Loki.

"That is precisely why we would never think of bringing you home with us." Loki commented with an eye roll.

"Hey, if you're gonna take someone else, I want to go. I've seen Sif in sparring class. I'd love to train with some of your warriors or whatever the hell you call them." Clint remarked, sitting up eagerly.

"I want to go, too. Jane told me about the dude that greeted you guys when you got there. Heimdall, was it? Said he was this huge, badass dude who knew everything about everything. I want to meet that guy." Sam added.

"If those two get to go, I want in. I'd love to explore Asgard. There are probably all kinds of thing to do around there." Rhodey stated.

"Hey, yeah, I want to go too. I want to know everything about the culture. I mean, you guys have been great about telling stories, but there's nothing like travelling and getting into different places. Are there any different languages there?" Maria asked excitedly.

Thor looked around at his friends before laughing. "I could not hope of bringing any of you to Asgard at the moment. Loki and I are not permitted to visit until we are finished with our academic careers. I was very fortunate that my father did not know that Jane and I were present when we were. I could not hope for the same amount of luck if I were to bring all of you. Perhaps once I have completed my education I will invite you all to join Loki and myself in the palace."

"I would not hold my breath waiting for an invitation, if I were so unfortunate as to be you."

* * *

The next morning, Steve woke up to find that he was laying half on top of Bucky with the TV blaring in the background and a slice of pizza pressed up against his cheek.

He sat up with a grunt, stretching out and attempting to brush off the chip crumbs that had stuck to his shirt. Bucky yawned and squirmed from underneath Steve.

"What time is it?" The dark haired boy asked groggily.

"I'unno," Steve mumbled, his voice rough with exhaustion, "I need'ta get back to school."

"Ugh, moving. Nope." Bucky groaned.

Steve stretched again before hitting Bucky's leg lazily. "You have to get up, too. Prom is in five hours. Don't you have to pick up your tux and explain Sam to your mom?" He was speaking much more coherently now; the second stretch had really woken him up.

"Not important enough." Bucky objected, rolling over so that he was lying face down on the couch.

"Alright, well, I'm going to get going." Steve muttered, rubbing his eyes and hoping that he looked at least a bit presentable.

"Why do you have to go? You need to pick up your tux, too. We can pick them up together and you can just get ready here." Bucky reminded him, his voice muffled by the worn leather of his couch.

"I need to check on everybody else, make sure that everyone is okay. Graduation is tomorrow and you know as well as I do that those guys are less predictable than the lottery." Steve explained, hunching over to tie his shoes properly for the first time in days.

"Yeah, okay," Bucky murmured reluctantly, "Need a ride? I can borrow my mom's car."

"That's alright. You look like you're pretty comfortable," Steve replied with a laugh, "I can let myself out. I'll, uh, I guess I'll see you at prom."

"Don't be stupid; Peggy already promised my mom that you'd come over for dinner before prom. My mom wants to take pictures." Bucky replied, finally sitting up and looking at Steve through bloodshot eyes.

"I thought you were going to dinner with Sam." Steve remarked.

Bucky shrugged. "Not really my idea of a fun time. I thought it'd be easier if we all just had dinner here. You don't need to worry about Sam; I invited him, too. Just be here by seven."

"Sounds great, Buck," Steve approved with a warm smile, "I'll stop by around by six thirty."

"I'm gonna hold you to that." Bucky stated, pointing at Steve.

"Yeah, okay. I'd better get going now. Take it easy, buddy." Steve said, nodding at Bucky before trudging up the steps to let himself out of the Barnes' house.

Once Steve got back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and got himself a massive cup of coffee, he pulled out his cell phone and entered the group chat that Tony Stark had forced them to create at the very beginning of the grammar club. He quickly sent out a message asking for everyone's graduation status.

**Steve: hey guys! just got back on campus. graduation day is tomorrow! are we all set?**

**Bruce: Hopefully. Loki gave me pills that seem to control the other guy. I tested myself a few times and the pills really seem to work. Not even falling down the stairs set me off. I'm going to talk to Fury this afternoon to see if I can take some kind of test.**

**Tony: YOU FELL DOWN THE STAIRS TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU WOULDN'T HULK OUT? YOU COULD HAVE RIPPED APART MY HOUSE.**

**Steve: ignore him. that's great bruce. anyone else?**

**Loki: Coulson has accepted my graduation form.**

**Loki: I have been added to the graduation list. I believe that I am all set.**

**Loki: I am glad to hear that the pills have proved to be of sufficient use to you, Banner.**

**Tony: What kind of pills did you give him Odinson?**

**Loki: It is Asgardian information that I am unable to share with you at present.**

**Tony: I hate you.**

**Thor: I am waiting for my history professor to publish my grades on MyClasses ~:)**

**Thor: I currently have a 3.4 grade point average. Jane says that this is high enough to qualify for graduation. ~:)**

**Tony: Do you really have a signature on your texts? Dude how are you the more advanced civilization? No ones had a signature on their texts since 2007.**

**Thor: I like it and intend to keep it. ~:)**

**Loki: Signatures are appropriate when sending a message.**

**Loki: Thor, you must show me how to get a signature of my own.**

**Thor: I would be delighted to show you. ~:)**

**Steve: hey guys lets try to stay on task here. tony you seem to have a lot to say. how is your future looking?**

**Tony: Already picked up my cap and gown. I could send you pictures of me wearing them if you'd like. ;)**

**Darcy: OH PLEASE GOD NO**

**Darcy: I also got my CAP and gown**

**Darcy: Whoa autocorrect find your chile. Cap***

**Darcy: Chill***

**Darcy: I give up**

**Darcy: I'll just see you guys at Greyhound**

**Darcy: Greyhound**

**Darcy: GREYHOUND**

**Darcy: N. OMZ**

**Darcy: OMZ**

**Darcy: goodbye world**

**Tony: Eloquent as ever Darcy.**

**Clint: ive got my grad stuff too. all good.**

**Steve: nat?**

**Natasha: i got a 94 on my speech :) good enough grade to bump me up in communications. I got the call from Coulson yesterday. thanks steve 3**

**Tony: How cute**

**Clint: i ship it**

**Natasha: ihy**

**Clint: 3**

**Steve: glad your speech went well nat. not so glad you and clint are using the group message to flirt. who's left? jane and pepper?**

**Jane: I've got my last volunteer hour to finish today!**

**Pepper: We haven't been able to figure out who took the money, but that's okay. I know that it's a little bit much for high school students. I'm glad that you all got so much done!**

**Steve: pepper you know that we're not going to forget about you. nat do you have any leads?**

**Natasha: whoever it is that stole the money is gonna be at prom tonight**

**Steve: great. we'll all find them and get this settled. we still have 24 hours. thats more than enough time.**

**Tony: Great. Now that we have that settled do you mind if we let this message die out? I'm trying to conduct a business meeting and my phone is going off every 5 seconds because of you assholes**

**Steve: just be at prom tonight**

**Tony: Why? Are you planning on saving me a dance?**

**Steve: goodbye tony**

**Tony: Goodbye bae 3**

* * *

"Can I help you, Mr. Banner?" Fury asked as Bruce entered his office hesitantly.

Bruce nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah, actually, uh, you can. I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about graduation."

"Bruce, we've been over this," Fury sighed, placing his hands down on his desk and staring at Bruce like he was something truly pitiful, "You're not ready to go out into the real world yet. We need to keep you here until we're positive that you aren't going to hurt anyone. We aren't trying to be the bad guys. We just want to keep you and the rest of the world safe. You have no idea how many agencies are looking for weapons like you."

"I know, I know. But, uh, I talked to Loki and he gave me these pills. Not like drugs or anything, they're some kind of Asgardian thing. They really help. I've been taking them for two days now and I've tested them out a few times. I even fell down a flight of stairs without an incident." Bruce explained rapidly, not waiting for Fury to tell him 'no'.

Fury looked at him curiously. He raised the one eyebrow that was visible. "What other tests have you done?"

"Oh, well, I burned my hand on the stove, jumped into an ice cold bath and set an alarm for three in the morning with a really loud ringtone. Nothing every time." Bruce explained, smiling hopefully.

Fury nodded thoughtfully. "Would you be willing to let us administer a few more tests before we determine the status of your graduation?"

"Of course," Bruce nodded vigorously, his curls falling out of place as he did so, "Uh, what kind of tests do you have in mind?"

Fury's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Nothing that you shouldn't be able to handle, so long as Mr. Odinson's pills are as helpful as you seem to think they are. Come along, Mr. Banner."

"Where are we going?" Bruce asked, following Fury out of the office.

Fury's smirk grew. "The training center."

* * *

"Okay, I have my phone hidden, my dress can be ripped if I need to move a little bit more, and Steve is having most of the football team keep an eye out for any suspicious activity." Natasha muttered to herself as she and Clint sat down to dinner, now dressed up in their prom attire.

"Nat," Clint sighed with a fond smile, "Relax. It's prom night. Try to enjoy it a little bit, huh?"

Natasha smiled sheepishly, brushing a stray strand out hair out of her face. "I'm sorry. I know that this isn't fair to you; I'm assuming you went through some trouble to get reservations here without hacking into the computer system. I just don't feel right that we're all set up to graduate except for Pepper. I promised her that I would be able to find whoever took the money."

"And you will," Clint assured her, placing his hand over hers, "just not right now. Right now you've got to worry about what you want to eat. Shouldn't be too hard; there are only three options on the menu. This is why I hate fancy restaurants."

"We didn't have to come here, you know." Natasha reminded him, rolling her eyes.

"Yes we did. It can never be said that Clint Barton did not rise to the occasion on prom night. This is going to be an all-out event. I got dinner reservations at the most overpriced restaurant in the city, a limo will be picking us up once we're done eating, and I even registered to take cheesy prom pictures once we get to prom. Get ready, Romanov. You're about to get the entire prom experience." Clint replied with a laugh.

"You didn't." Natasha challenged, her mouth twitching into a smile.

"I did. The limo even has champagne. The driver might think that we're extremely wealthy twenty-something year-olds." Clint responded, smirking.

"You didn't steal the treasury fund, did you?" Natasha inquired teasingly.

"You caught me. Stealing from our friends is a hobby of mine." Clint answered with a wink.

"Hmm, our friends," Natasha mused, placing her hand under her chin while she thought; "I guess we are friends with those guys, aren't we? That's weird. I never thought that I would be friends with Tony Stark."

"I never thought I would be friends with Norse gods." Clint responded with a laugh.

"They aren't exactly  _gods_." Natasha ventured, smiling slightly.

"Maria Hill would beg to differ," Clint argued in an amused tone, "She says that Thor's arms alone make him godlike."

"Well that settles that, then," Natasha laughed, "Although you probably shouldn't say that too close to Loki. He might throw you out of a window for neglecting to mention his arms."

"Speaking of arms," Clint commented brightly, "You'll never believe what Darcy was saying about  _my_  arms the other day."

The couple continued on with their comfortable conversations throughout the course of their dinner. Natasha wound up ordering the vegetarian lasagna while Clint attempted to appear sophisticated and ordered the rare fish doused in a type of sauce that he could not even think about pronouncing. Unsurprisingly, Clint took one bite and declared that the fish was inedible. He spent the remainder of the dinner eating the courtesy rolls on the table and sneaking bites of Natasha's lasagna.

Once they had finished eating - or rather, Natasha had finished eating and Clint had insisted that he had devoured enough bread to keep him satisfied throughout the course of the evening - Clint unnecessarily helped Natasha out of her chair and shepherded her out of the restaurant. Parked outside of the restaurant was one of the most obscenely over-the-top limousines that Natasha had ever seen in her life.

"You've got to be kidding me." Natasha muttered, her eyes widening a bit. She had never been in a limo and had not expected her boyfriend to supply one on a night as seemingly meaningless as prom.

"That'd be an expensive joke," Clint responded, diving into the limo, "C'mon, there's two bottles of champagne and a sunroof."

Natasha laughed and climbed into the limo after her boyfriend. "There goes our chances of making it to graduation without sustaining any serious injuries."

* * *

"I'm going to see some ID, Ms. Odinson." The woman in charge of the animal shelter stated, staring down at Darcy skeptically.

In an effort to give Loki the grand gesture that he had requested, Darcy had taken the bus to the animal shelter. She had approached the woman at the front desk and claimed that she was Loki's sister, hoping that she would be allowed to take the kittens and sneak them into the dorm before Loki returned from picking up his tuxedo with Thor and the rest of the football team.

"ID? Yeah, right, of course. I don't really have a driver's license - who drives in New York, am I right? - but I  _do_  have my license to practice law. Does this count?" Darcy questioned, holding out the fake law license that Clint and Loki had attained for her some weeks ago. When Loki had handed her the license and she had seen that he had replaced her last name with his own, she had been a bit suspicious, but that didn't matter now. The name change was to her advantage in this particular moment.

Apparently fake law licenses did count. Within moments, Darcy was hauling two large pet carriers full of cats in the direction of the bus stop and wondering just how she was going to sneak ten cats past Fury and Coulson.

Luckily, Fury and Coulson were much too busy preparing for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prom to worry about the possibility of students sneaking pets into the dorms. Darcy was able to walk straight into the building without any type of questions being asked.

From that point forward, things were increasingly simple. With a little bit of help from Jane, Darcy released the cats in Loki's room, threw roses everywhere, lit a number of candles that would have set off the fire alarm if Tony hadn't disabled all of the alarms in the boys' dormitory for 'the sake of science' a while ago, and placed a piece of paper posing the question: "PROM?" on every collar of every cat that Loki had adopted. Darcy fully expected Loki to reimburse her for the collars afterwards. They were, after all, ten dollars each.

"You know, you're putting in an awful lot of effort for a satirical gesture." Jane remarked as Darcy placed the final paper on the final cat collar.

Darcy's eyes narrowed. "Satire is the entire foundation of my friendship with Loki. He'll appreciate it."

"Mhm," Jane murmured, turning away so that Darcy would not see the smile creeping up on her face. She knew better than to argue with her best friend when Darcy was being stubborn about something. Insisting that Darcy and Loki were practically a couple would only make Darcy vehemently swear that they were nothing of the sort. The pair would just have to work out their relationship on their own.

Darcy noticed Jane's amused smile and scowled. "Just text Thor and tell him that he can let Loki escape from the football players now. Steve's probably tried to kill him at least four times in the past ten minutes. You can go to Pepper's and start to get ready; I'll just meet you for dinner."

Jane smirked at Darcy before sending a quick text to her blond beau. Once she had done so, she wished Darcy luck and skipped out of the room in the direction of the girls' dorm. Darcy paced the length as she waited, watching the cats run around the room, knocking everything in their path over as they did so.

It only took Loki five minutes to get to his room. He was scowling as he threw the door open, clearly not thrilled at being forced to spend half an hour among a football team that was not overly fond of him. A startled expression quickly took the place of his scowl once he saw ten cats running about his room - which was littered with roses and candles - with Darcy standing in the midst of the chaos.

An uncharacteristically bright smile immediately crossed the demi-god's face.

"Brynjar!" He exclaimed, ducking down to scoop up the cat with the torn up left ear. Darcy didn't know what he had said exactly, but judging from his tone, it was most likely something positive. Or an extremely well-disguised death threat. Either or.

Darcy rolled her eyes as Loki continued to ignore her in favor of petting each and every cat in the room. "Only a crazy cat lady would overlook a grand romantic gesture in order to pet a few cats. Look, I'm making a fuss! I deserve some credit here!"

Loki glanced at Darcy, an amused smirk playing on his lips. "I thought that we were not using the word 'romantic' within the confines of our friendship?" He attempted to sit on his bed in order to be among the cats lounging nearby. This resulted in him accidentally sitting down on one of the thorn-riddled roses thrown about the room.

With a yelp, Loki sprang to his feet, startling the cats as a direct result. A few leapt onto his desk and knocked off a number of items, but Loki did not seem bothered by that. He was too busy rubbing his behind and glowering at Darcy. Darcy, meanwhile, was doubled over with laughter.

"This is your idea of romance?" He demanded irritably.

"I didn't think that you were stupid enough to sit on a pile of thorns for the sake of petting a few cats." Darcy argued, her voice wracked with laughter.

"I am  _not_  stupid," Loki asserted, scooping up Brynjar, who had hidden under the bed immediately after Loki had let out a pained shout, "Although I am questioning your intelligence. This display was ridiculous and far from satisfying. What have you done to the cats' necks? Why is there a scrap of fabric tied here? Have you the intention of strangling my friends? Are you truly that jealous of my expanding social circle?"

Darcy rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "I am not jealous of your cats, you nut-job. They're collars. You're supposed to put them on your pets. Otherwise no one will know that they're yours if they run away."

"They are not my  _pets_ ," Loki spat the word out like it was something truly vile, "They are simply creatures that I am sharing my space with. Regardless of whatever trivial label you decide to give them, you cannot expect them to wear these. What of the paper placed underneath their 'collars'? What purpose do they serve?"

"Why don't you read the paper?" Darcy sighed, shaking her head.

Loki's eyes narrowed, but he did as instructed. He carefully removed the paper from Brynjar's collar and frowned down at the words. "I thought that it was already established that we were attending the prom together. It is extremely late for confirmation of that fact."

"You asked for a grand gesture, this is your grand gesture!" Darcy responded loudly.

"I did not ask for a such an absurd gesture." Loki countered in an equally loud voice.

"I brought you cats. This was the best gesture in the world." Darcy snapped.

Loki rolled his eyes and plopped down on the ground to be among the cats once more. "You placed collars on my friends with the thought that they would leave me. That was completely unnecessary, as you very well know. They will never leave me. You certainly have not."

"And you wonder why no one ever makes a grand gesture for you," Darcy murmured, shaking her head and smirking down at Loki, "Alright, Odinson. Get off the floor and leave the cats alone. We've got a prom to get ready for and I expect you to look as okay as possible."

Loki snorted. "I exceed 'okay' on every scale."

Darcy shrugged. "You're like a high 'okay,' but you're not 'great.'"

"I am the best." Loki argued indignantly.

"You're the okayest." Darcy smirked.

"I will show you," Loki growled, snatching his abandoned tuxedo off of the back of his chair, "I will look the very best. You will be unable to take your eyes off of me."

* * *

"Tony, you didn't have to do this."

"Sure I did."

Pepper looked around the restaurant and rolled her eyes. "You really didn't."

Tony had deemed it necessary to not only reserve a table at one of the most expensive restaurants in New York City; he had decided that he also needed to reserve half of the restaurant to ensure that he and Pepper were not disturbed.

Pepper knew that there was much more to the action than just Tony's usual showmanship. For once, Tony felt guilty. He felt guilty that he and Pepper had not been getting along nearly as well as they could have over the course of the past few weeks. It had been more than a little obvious that Pepper was not thrilled about the state of their relationship. This seemed to be Tony's way of making up for all of the fighting.

Tony grinned. "Even if you don't think so, I do. You deserve the best night I can give you. I know you like to eat and I know you don't like crowds. This is the best of all worlds for Pepper Potts."

"And what about Tony Stark? Doesn't he get anything?" Pepper inquired with a smile of her own.

"Tony Stark gets to spend an evening with his beautiful girlfriend." Tony replied with a toothy smile.

Pepper laughed loudly, rolling her eyes. "Oh, you're the worst! That was too cheesy, Tony."

"I don't know, I thought it was nice," Tony argued, looking mildly offended, "I planned an entire night around you. I deserve at least a little bit of credit. C'mon, just one thank-you wouldn't go amiss."

"Aha! There's the ulterior motive. You did this so I'd fawn all over you. Once again, the real Tony Stark is revealed." Pepper remarked triumphantly, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"There's no ulterior motives! I'm really trying, here. Look, I even silenced my phone!" Tony pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and showed Pepper the screen smugly.

Pepper rolled her eyes the moment she caught sight of the screen. "Bruce is calling you."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. He retracted his arm in order to get a better look at the screen. After staring at his phone for a few seconds, Tony clenched his jaw and shook his head. He placed his cell phone face-down on the table.

"Nope, I'm not answering my phone. The focus is on you." He asserted, shaking his head once more.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Tony, you can answer your phone. I know that Bruce was talking to Fury today. He's probably calling to tell you about it. You should be there for him."

"He can just tell me once we get back to Stark Towers." Tony replied, trying to focus on the plate of food in front of him.

"Answer the phone." Pepper persisted in an exasperated tone.

"I don't want to ruin our evening." Tony remarked in a tone that suggested that he wanted nothing more than to answer the phone but was just being unnecessarily stubborn about it.

"Anthony Robert Stark, if you don't answer that phone right now, I will leave this restaurant, demand that Happy takes me back to the dorm, and spend the entire prom weekend in my room by myself." Pepper stated, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair.

"Seriously?" Tony questioned dubiously.

Pepper rolled her eyes and gestured towards the phone. "I would much rather you answer the phone for Bruce than Obe. Go ahead."

"You're the best, Potts." Tony grinned, scooping his phone off of the table and answering his phone immediately.

Pepper watched Tony as he held the phone to his ear, eyebrows scrunched together and mouth curved into a grim line. It was clear that Bruce was doing all of the talking; Tony would nod occasionally despite the fact that Bruce couldn't see him, but the billionaire did not respond in any other way.

Finally, after what felt like years, a bright smile crossed Tony's face.

"You're kidding," He said, sitting up in his chair, "You're fucking kidding."

"What?" Pepper mouthed, leaning across the table in the hopes of hearing whatever it was that Bruce was saying on the other end of the phone.

"That's great buddy, real great. Yeah, I probably should. Yes, she's here. Yeah, she does. Of  _course_  I told her. Since when do you give me relationship advice? Hey! You know what, you should follow your own advice. Maria is headed your way, isn't she? Yeah, yeah; you're just friends. I've heard this before. Anyway, I should get back to Pepper. She's going to kill me if I drag this call out much longer. Take it easy buddy. Yeah, see you tonight." Tony hung up the phone with an overdramatic click of a button.

"So? What did he say?" Pepper demanded the moment Tony's phone was back in his pocket.

Tony shrugged, trying to act aloof in an effort to frustrate his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the goofy smile sliding across his face was sabotaging his attempts at acting casual.

"Fury put him in a sparring ring with Sam and Sif earlier. Bruce said that he stayed calm the whole time. He gets to graduate tomorrow." The billionaire explained, still smiling stupidly.

"Really?" Pepper squeaked excitedly.

Tony nodded his head, letting out a relieved laugh. "I guess Loki really knew how to tame the Hulk!"

"That's so amazing!" Pepper exclaimed, looking around as though she expected someone within the vicinity to be just as excited by the news as she and Tony were.

"Yeah." Tony agreed contentedly.

The couple remained silent for a few seconds as they glanced down at their food thoughtfully.

"I think I'm too excited to eat." Pepper admitted after another second or two.

"Thank god; I thought I was going to have to drag you out of here. C'mon, I'll call up Happy and tell him that we're ready to be driven to prom." Tony responded, throwing a number of bills on the table without a second thought before guiding Pepper towards the door.

* * *

"Why do we have to come along?" Loki complained as he and Darcy were forced to accompany Jane and Thor to the small cafe just a mile outside of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Because you wouldn't have brought Darcy to dinner if we hadn't made you come with us and I would have had to listen to her complain about it for the rest of the night." Jane replied with a knowing smile.

"Darcy and I attend dinner every evening. I do not understand why that would change this evening." Loki sulked as he sat down.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Are you telling me that you would have brought Darcy to the dining hall on prom night?"

"Ah, Jane. It seems that you have higher expectations for prom than you have been letting on." Thor remarked with a small smirk.

Darcy nudged Jane with a laugh. "Oh, Jane is the queen of denial. She's always talking about how she would probably have a city hall wedding but the second she gets ahold of a bridal magazine she circles  _everything_."

"Bridal magazines?" Thor echoed with an amused grin.

"Yeah they're magazines for -"

"I am aware of what they are," Thor interrupted Darcy with a chuckle, "Midgard is not the great mystery that you all seem to think it is. I am much more interested in what Jane might be doing with a bridal magazine."

Jane's face reddened. "I don't want to get married."

"Ever? My, my, what a disappointment that must be, brother." Loki drawled, cracking a smile for the first time in half an hour.

Thor rolled his eyes. "I did not imagine that Jane intended to marry in the near future."

"She might." Darcy remarked cheerfully.

"Let's just get our food." Jane said, leaping out of her chair and rushing over to the front counter before anyone could say another word about bridal magazines.

"Touchy subject?" Loki inquired as he and Darcy followed Thor and Jane at a distance.

"Kinda looks that way." Darcy agreed thoughtfully.

Loki nodded to himself before arching an eyebrow. "Do you intend on marrying soon?"

Darcy laughed by way of answering the question. Loki's eyebrows furrowed. He did not entirely know how to interpret her answer.

Ten minutes later, the subject had dissolved entirely. Instead, it had shifted to Loki complaining about the quiche that Darcy had convinced him to order.

"It isn't even warm." He complained sullenly.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "You're a frost giant. I think you'll survive a bit of lukewarm food."

"That is an extremely racist attitude." Loki stated, his eyes narrowing.

"Drama queen." Darcy murmured, taking a bite of her sandwich before shaking her head.

"You might be dramatic if you received a cold meal as well." Loki remarked.

Darcy kicked his shin under the table. Loki narrowed his eyes, but began to eat his meal in determined silence. Darcy smirked at her sandwich triumphantly. Jane rolled her eyes at the two of them.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Thor cleared his throat. "I wonder if my grades have been posted online."

"Do you really want to ruin your evening so soon?" Loki inquired with a smirk. Darcy kicked him under the table yet again.

"Ignore him. I think that you should check your grades." Jane said, smiling at Thor reassuringly.

Thor nodded. "I agree."

Loki rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to make yet another condescending remark, but a threatening stare from Darcy quickly silenced him. Thor chuckled to himself, his eyes locked on his cell phone screen all the while.

When Thor did not say anything after a few seconds, Jane leaned over his shoulder to get a better look at his grades.

"Is everything okay?" She asked tentatively.

A smile cracked across Thor's face. "My grade point average is now a 3.5. This is high enough to be eligible for graduation, is it not?"

"Yes!" Jane squealed, throwing her arms around Thor's neck and scooting closer to properly hug her boyfriend.

"Guess your brother isn't nearly as stupid as you thought, huh?" Darcy asked, smirking at Loki while Jane and Thor chattered excitedly among themselves.

Loki opted to ignore Darcy's comment. "Congratulations, Thor. I am sure that mother and father will be pleased to hear that you have succeeded after such a difficult year."

"Hey, speaking of your parents: when can we all go visit Asgard? Now that you both are graduating, you're allowed back, aren't you?" Darcy inquired, looking around the table with a hopeful smile.

While Darcy and Jane planned out a trip to Asgard, Loki pulled his phone out of his pocket to distract himself. He figured that Thor would probably be the better brother to discuss the plans with, anyway.

As he scowled down at his phone, he couldn't help but notice that he had received a text message from Bruce. He quickly opened the message, hoping that Bruce had pleasant news to share for both his and Loki's sake.

A wide smile crossed his face immediately. Darcy noticed within a matter of seconds.

"What are you so happy about?" She inquired, attempting to read the text from over Loki's shoulder.

"It seems that Bruce Banner has been cleared for graduation. I have apparently what Bruce Banner, who supposedly is too intelligent to accurately measure, was unable to accomplish within his 18 years of existence." Loki responded smugly.

"That's amazing! I can't believe that the pills you gave him worked! What kind of chemical compounds did you use? How did you test them? Do you still have any notes that you made while working? I would love to know how you did it." Jane immediately chimed in eagerly.

Loki smirked. "It was actually Thor that inspired my solution."

Both Jane and Darcy turned to look at Thor curiously. Thor raised an eyebrow at Loki and gestured towards himself in a sign of disbelief. Darcy rolled her eyes and glared at Loki, clearly thinking that the lanky boy was about to pick on his older brother yet again.

"Oh, do not look at me with those eyes, Darcy. I am being sincere in my compliment; without Thor, I would not have thought of the remedy for Bruce. You see, Thor takes comfort in useless pills - 'vitamins,' as your healers opt to call them - despite the available knowledge that they do not provide any actual health benefits. I have read about the placebo effect to a great length. The pills that I assigned to Bruce were simply sugar pills." Loki explained in an amused tone.

"Loki!" Jane gasped in surprise, "You gave Bruce  _sugar pills_  to stop him from turning into a  _massive destructive creature_? That's the worst idea I've ever heard! You're basically playing with his future!"

"I have not seen any effective solutions emerging from you," Loki reminded her with a scowl, "My solution worked, did it not?"

"Are you ever going to tell him?" Jane asked, glancing at Darcy and Thor to see if they shared her concern.

"I have no intention of telling him, no. As a scholar of the sciences, I expected you be familiar with the placebo effect. Informing Bruce that the pills are virtually useless would cause needless damage to him both physically and psychologically." Loki answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What if Bruce decides to test the pills' composition for himself?" Jane demanded.

"Then I suppose that I will have to come up with another solution." Loki replied simply.

"But how could you do that? There's so many other components. Have you started researching yet? Have you considered taking blood samples of different species? There might be something to curb the fight or flight mechanism that seems to trigger whatever it is that Bruce turns into." Jane persisted, leaning across the table and watching Loki with a great deal of interest.

"Jane, I understand that this discussion is extremely important to you, but perhaps we could discuss it while moving towards the prom. If we do not leave immediately, we will risk standing in an extremely long line." Thor suggested lightly.

Darcy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah; no more science talk. The faster we get to prom, the faster I can make fun of Loki trying to dance. Let's go."

* * *

"Steve, honey, you have chocolate ice cream all over your mouth. Please wipe that off unless you want it in the pictures." Mrs. Barnes called over the din of the numerous teenagers running about her house.

"How have you still not figured out how to eat ice cream without getting it on every inch of your face?" Bucky laughed, retrieving a napkin from the kitchen and handing it to Steve.

Steve grinned sheepishly as he wiped off the ice cream. He should have known better than to let Sam talk him into stopping for ice cream cones on the way to Bucky's house. He should have known better than to let Sam talk him into anything in general.

"Okay, now Sam, dear, would you please stand next to Bucky? Put the cookie down, please." Mrs. Barnes prompted, plucking a large chocolate chip cookie from Sam's hand and nudging him in Bucky's direction.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Ma, we really don't need all of these pictures."

"Yes we do!" Peggy chimed in, bounding down the stairs after checking her makeup for what might have been the fifth time, "Please don't touch that food, Steve. Our pictures are next."

Pictures wound up taking an excessive amount of time; Mrs. Barnes insisted that Peggy help apply some concealer around Bucky's eye in order to disguise his black eye. Sam and Steve were forced to take pictures in their dates' absences. It took Mrs. Barnes fifteen minutes to get even one decent picture of the pair.

Once Mrs. Barnes was satisfied with the amount of pictures she had taken, she allowed the teens to descend upon the meal that she had prepared for them. She continued to take pictures while they ate; Steve had more than a few unattractive pictures taken of him eating. Peggy cowered behind the boys in order to eat in peace. Bucky ducked his head down and scowled whenever his mom ventured too close. Sam seemed to be the only one who genuinely enjoyed the photoshoot that Mrs. Barnes was creating.

"Might've made a mistake when I agreed to go to with him." Bucky muttered in a low voice, nodding towards

"Yeah, maybe," Steve agreed between mouthfuls of macaroni and cheese, "Maybe you should get him away from your mom. Maybe you should get us all away from your mom."

"Mm, yeah, I like your plan," Bucky agreed with a decisive nod, "Ma, we're running late; we've got to go. Can I have the car keys?"

Mrs. Barnes objected and snapped about thirty more pictures before she surrendered the car keys, but the four teenagers managed to escape all the same. They quickly piled into the 2012 minivan; Sam and Steve sat in the back while Bucky drove with Peggy sitting in the passenger seat.

Within five minutes of the car ride, Sam and Steve were rough-housing over a backhanded comment that Sam made about Steve's bowtie. Seatbelts were removed, elbows and legs seemed to be all over the place, and Sam and Steve's shouts filled the car. Peggy laughed and swatted at them while Bucky swore and demanded that they stop.

"Guys, I'm trying to drive, here! You're going to get us all killed and my mom isn't going to blame me at our funerals." Bucky complained, taking one hand off of the steering wheel to hit whoever found themselves within arms' reach of him.

"Boys, stop." Peggy commanded in a quiet voice, turning around to glare at the pair.

Sam didn't seem to listen; instead, he put Steve in a headlock and continued to insult his bowtie. Unable to resist the call of a fight, Steve rammed his elbow into Sam's ribs just hard enough to make Sam squeal and flinch away.

Peggy rolled her eyes. With an annoyed huff, she unbuckled her seatbelt, reached across the seat and grabbed hold of both of the boys' right ears. She gave the ears a sharp twist, resulting in both of the boys yelping and leaning forward in order to lessen the pain.

"Alright, alright, we'll behave, I promise. C'mon Peg, let go." Steve whined.

"Are you sure?" Peggy inquired, arching an eyebrow with a slight smirk.

" _Yes_!" Steve and Sam howled in unison.

"Okay." Peggy agreed, releasing both Steve and Sam's ears with a wide smile.

"Ow, fuck, man. Rogers, where did you find this girl? The FBI's most wanted list?" Sam demanded, rubbing his ear and glaring at Steve reproachfully.

Steve shook his head, also rubbing his ear. "Shut up Sam; you're going to get us in even more trouble."

Bucky smirked at Peggy from the driver's seat. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"My father was in the military and taught me to defend myself. Good thing, too. I don't think that we would have made it to prom in one piece if he hadn't." Peggy replied, smiling back at Sam and Steve, who were quietly bickering amongst themselves.

"Well, lucky for us, we're here." Bucky chuckled, pulling into one of the only empty parking spots in the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. parking lot.

"Thank god." Sam grumbled, launching himself out of the car and dragging Bucky with him.

Steve and Peggy followed closely behind. Peggy apologized for the fact that Steve's ear was still bright red. Steve admitted that he might have given her no other suitable option and had perhaps deserved the slight pinch. Peggy agreed with a laugh.

Before they knew it, they were through the doors of the auditorium. The school looked completely different, somehow. Steve placed his arms on both Peggy and Bucky's shoulders, looking around at his friends with a slight smile.

"Alright guys; this is it. Prom."

Bucky snorted loudly. "You're a drama queen, Rogers."

With that, the dark-haired boy walked off. Sam quickly followed after his date, clearly thrilled to be seen with Jefferson's most eligible teen bachelor. Steve watched the pair disappear, his mouth curving into a frown as they ventured out of sight.

He couldn't help but wonder if Bucky was angry with him. They had had a fairly fun movie marathon and for a while, it had seemed like everything was exactly the way that it had been before Steve had gone away to S.H.I.E.L.D. Still, there had been a few moments over the course of the past few weeks that had made him nervous. He briefly wondered if it had anything to do with Natasha.

"Are you okay?" Peggy questioned, snapping Steve out of his train of thoughts.

"Right, yeah, I'm great. I'm with you." Steve replied automatically, forcing himself to smile.

Peggy rolled her eyes and shook her head. Luckily, Natasha approached the couple before Peggy could make a witty retort to Steve's cheesy line. Steve couldn't help but notice the way that Natasha stared at Bucky's retreating back suspiciously.

"What's wrong?" He demanded in a harsher tone than he had intended.

Natasha looked at him appraisingly for a moment before blinking and shaking her head. "Nothing."

Steve folded his arms across his chest. He didn't believe Natasha for a second. He had known her for four years; he had gotten pretty good at figuring out when she was lying. After seeing the looks on Natasha and Peggy's faces, he decided against pushing the question during prom.

* * *

"Why are we doing this?" Loki grumbled as Darcy dragged him in the direction of the prom's official photographer.

"My parents wanted me to get pictures," Darcy replied with a shrug, "I think my mom just wants proof that I didn't go to prom with Jane. She thinks I don't have any other friends."

"That's absurd." Loki remarked.

"I know!" Darcy agreed in an exasperated tone.

"Thor is also your friend." Loki stated in a decided tone.

Darcy glared at him. "You asshole. You're my friend, too."

"Oh, am I? I had not realized." Loki said, raising his eyebrows as though his friendship with Darcy was something that was very new to him.

"Shut up. Let's just get this picture over with." Darcy sighed, bumping her shoulder into Loki's side with a small smile.

"If you insist." Loki agreed in an exasperated tone.

"Hello there." The photographer greeted the pair as they approached him.

"Hi," Darcy replied with an entirely artificial smile, "We want to take some pictures."

"Seeing as the man's entire profession consists of taking pictures, I would assume that he had given that particular detail a given." Loki muttered, rolling his eyes at Darcy. Darcy scowled up at him in response.

"Ah, young love. Can't say I miss it," The photographer chuckled, watching Darcy and Loki in amusement, "Alright, kids. Ah, you, sir, if you would put your hands on her waist."

"Oh, no, we're not..." Darcy shook her head meaningfully.

"We are not a couple." Loki elaborated.

The photographer quirked an eyebrow but recovered his neutral expression quickly enough. The cynicism in his eyes did not escape Loki's notice.

"I do not love her." The demi-god insisted.

"Okay, kid." The photographer agreed in a patronizing tone.

Loki's eyes narrowed. Darcy planted her hands on her hips and scowled.

"We're not a couple." She stated.

"For once in her life, Darcy Lewis is not mistaken. We are not a couple; I am simply a man who is constantly bullied by a stubborn young woman claiming to be a friend." Loki agreed as though he was stating the obvious.

The photographer could not stifle a laugh. "That's the definition of a couple, buddy."

Darcy and Loki both looked astonished by that answer. They looked at each other for a moment before turning to look at the photographer in absolute horror.

"Well, okay, what about this: he ignores me for days on end after he's been a complete dickhead to me and knows it." Darcy said in a definite tone.

"Like a fight?" The photographer questioned with a smirk.

"No, not a fight. Well, I mean, yeah, we fought but…" Darcy trailed off, looking at a loss for words.

"She forces me to fetch her things. Surely that is not a sign of affection." Loki interjected, gesturing towards Darcy as though the very sight of her reaffirmed the assertion that they were not dating.

The photographer was clearly enjoying this debate very much. "My wife makes me fetch things all the time. Get used to it, kid."

"Oh god. Thor fetches things for Jane all of the time." Darcy muttered under her breath, her eyes widening a bit.

"It is rare to see Tony Stark when he is not running an errand of sorts for Pepper Potts." Loki added, his eyebrows furrowing a bit.

"Are we…" Darcy started. Loki shook his head immediately.

The photographer watched them with an amused smirk.

"Loki, I think we might be." Darcy persisted, ignoring the fact that Loki looked as though he wished that the world would open up and swallow him whole.

"Do not finish your sentence." Loki growled weakly.

Darcy shook her head and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Are...are we a couple?"

"Hey there, guys," Clint Barton remarked as he and Natasha approached where the pair were having their own little crisis, "Getting pictures taken?"

Darcy stared at Clint and Natasha with wide, horrified eyes. Loki looked perfectly at ease for a second or two before he seemed to snap. He grabbed the front of Clint's shirt and pulled him close.

"Do you consider Darcy and I a couple?" The demi-god demanded in a voice that sounded borderline deranged.

Clint pushed Loki off of him immediately. "What the hell, man? Of course you are. Now, d'you mind if I take prom pictures without getting assaulted?"

Darcy and Loki looked at each other in complete horror.

"Jane!" Darcy hollered in an alarmed tone.

"Thor!" Loki howled in an equally horrified manner.

* * *

"Courtyard?" Thor proposed the moment that he and Jane heard Darcy and Loki calling for them across the crowded gym.

"Yes, please." Jane responded, already pushing Thor in the direction of the side exit of the gym.

The moment the couple was outside and away from the threat of an imposing best friend or brother, they burst out laughing.

"I knew that prom was going to be dramatic! I just told you," Jane remarked, jabbing Thor's chest with her index finger, "There's no way that you can put all of these students together  _without_ drama. Especially when Darcy and Loki are involved. Why did you insist on us coming here again?"

"I thought that you might enjoy the dancing." Thor admitted with a sheepish grin.

Jane wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. Dancing."

"I cannot believe that you dislike dancing." Thor remarked, shaking his head.

Jane shrugged. "It's awkward. I just don't know how."

"Would you like me to teach you?" Thor inquired.

"Oh, I don't know, I just…" Jane shook her head and brushed a strand of hair out of her face while blushing profusely.

Smiling widely, Thor lifted Jane off of her feet and gently placed her so that she was standing directly on top of his feet. Jane laughed and looked up at him as though he was the most ridiculous being that he had ever heard of.

After a few steps, Jane buried her face in Thor's broad shoulder. "Where did you learn to dance like this?"

Thor chuckled. "Loki and I were given dancing lessons throughout our childhood. It was quite a bonding experience. We were not permitted to interact with the other children; we were forced to serve as each others' dance partners."

Jane let out a laugh. "Did you let him stand on your feet, too?"

"Only on special occasions," Thor responded in an amused tone, "Although he insisted on leading far more often than he insisted on being led. Mother would insist that I go along. Loki has always been extremely interested in leadership roles of all types."

"I would have liked to see that; Loki leading you all around the dance floor." Jane mused, smiling against Thor's shoulder.

"It was quite a scene." Thor agreed with a smile.

"I wish we could go back," Jane whispered, staring behind Thor at the dark horizon, "I loved Asgard. Everything was so beautiful."

"Yes, it is very lovely," Thor nodded, "Although it was very difficult to focus on anything other than you when you accompanied me the last time."

Jane wrinkled her nose again. "Mmm. So when can we go back?"

"When would you like to go back?" Thor asked as though it were a simple question.

"As soon as possible. Do you think that we could go back to the library? I could spend days in that library." Jane sighed, her mouth curving into a smile.

"I could spend days watching you in that library." Thor rumbled with a soft laugh.

Jane rolled her eyes. "So what are you going to do now? You're graduating; you get to go back to Asgard. Are you going to be the king?"

"I have my doubts. Odin still has a great length of time to rule before he should begin to consider an heir. If that were not the case, I do not know whether or not I could accept the throne. I have taken a liking to Midgard." Thor responded.

Jane smiled as she buried her face farther into Thor's shoulder.

* * *

"You are the worst dancer!" Natasha laughed as Clint stepped on her foot for what must have been the seventeenth time that evening.

"We can't all be classically trained." Clint bit back with a smirk.

Natasha rolled her eyes. An unfortunate side effect of this was catching a glimpse of Bucky and Sam sitting at one of the tables. The boys were laughing - probably at something either incredibly stupid or ridiculously immature - and largely ignoring Steve. Natasha could see that Steve was not happy about that particular detail.

"Nat." Clint brought her attention back to the date that she was ruining.

Natasha shook her head and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I know. I'll stop."

Clint laughed. "Don't worry about it; I've had my fun. We've gotten dinner, we've taken pictures, we've danced. You've fulfilled your duty as a 'good date'. Go on, go terrorize the student body. I know that you've been thinking about it all night."

A smile broke across Natasha's face. She popped up on her tiptoes in order to plant a quick kiss on her boyfriend's lips before dashing off in the direction of where Sam and Bucky appeared to be playing lemon mouth.

"Barnes." She greeted him coldly as she approached the table.

"Hold that thought for one minute, Natasha. Sam is about to break the one minute record." Bucky commented, glancing at Natasha briefly before looking down at his watch eagerly.

Natasha's eyes narrowed. She grabbed Bucky's arm in an area that she knew would apply an uncomfortable amount of force to a pressure point. Bucky winced and allowed himself to be dragged a few feet away in order to avoid any further injuries. Once Natasha released his arm, he looked around at the isolated corner before cocking his head at her inquisitively.

"Okay, what's going on? Are you finally done playing the cat and mouse game?" Bucky questioned in the most suggestive tone he could manage, smirking at her the way he did with all of the pretty girls that crossed his path.

Natasha snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. I just want to know what's going on with you and Steve."

"Me and Steve? Nothing. I - why would you think that anything was going on with me and Steve?" Bucky responded just a little too quickly.

"I feel obligated to remind you that I've studied human behavior and certain ticks that are associate with lying for four years now. Do you really want to go down this route?" Natasha inquired skeptically.

Bucky glared at Natasha. "Might as well supply your own answer. You're obviously expecting me to say one thing in particular."

"I'm really not," Natasha objected, "I have absolutely no idea what your problem is. I've been trying to figure it out for weeks now. It's been driving me nuts."

Bucky looked around the prom for a minute before dropping his voice and speaking in a hushed tone. "It took a while for different parts of my memory to come back to me. The last piece of the puzzle was my emotional memory."

"What the hell does that mean?" Natasha demanded impatiently.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "While I could recognize people and places, I didn't really know how I felt about them before my, uh, accident. I just knew what kind of memories I had with people in the past and how I felt about them now. I just, uh, well, I just got my emotional memory back and well, looking at Steve was sort of a punch in the gut."

Natasha's eyes widened. For the first time, she was absolutely speechless. She took a moment to stare at Bucky, only interrupting her stare-fest in order to glance at Steve every so often. Once she was finished staring, she swallowed hard and tried to regain her composure.

"Are you trying to tell me that you love Steve?" Natasha demanded incredulously.

"No," Bucky replied, his eyebrows furrowing uncertainly, "I mean, yeah, sort of, but not like you love Clint or Loki loves Darcy. I just...I don't know. Every day I wake up worrying that he's finally going to do something unforgivably stupid and kill himself. Sometimes I think about what'll happen when he gets into the military and it freaks me out. They're not like us; they won't care if he volunteers to do something reckless. They'll let him die out there. Sometimes it's not even that severe. Y'know, over the weekend he tried an avocado for the first time and I was terrified that he was going to have some sort of allergic reaction. I worry about him  _all the time_. It gets exhausting."

"So you do love him." Natasha smirked.

Bucky scowled. "It's not like that, Nat."

"Oh, yes it is. You should tell him! You should just open up that big mouth of yours and say, 'Ste-'"

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Steve, hey." Bucky greeted his best friend with a panicked smile.

Steve gave Bucky an inquisitive stare before turning to look at Natasha. "Yeah, hey. I saw you guys standing over here and thought that you might be talking about something interesting. You're not planning on overthrowing the Russian government, are you?" It was clear that Steve's joke was just as fake as Bucky's smile, but neither boy seemed to notice.

"No, no, no, not yet. I, uh, we were actually just talking about you. Natasha, uh, well, she just didn't know what to get you for Christmas." Bucky explained, his face reddening.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "Christmas? It's May."

"She wanted to get her shopping done early." Bucky responded, not meeting Steve's eyes.

Natasha shook her head and rolled her eyes. Once again, rolling her eyes wound up being beneficial to her. While Bucky tried to worm his way out of Steve's line of questioning, something in particular caught Natasha's attention.

"Both of you, shut up." She hissed.

"Why?" Steve demanded in an offended tone.

"I want to talk to Jess about her dress." Natasha answered, approaching the computer science student that had attracted her attention.

Steve and Bucky hovered in the background, no longer bickering about whatever it was that Bucky and Natasha had been talking about before Steve had interrupted.

"Hey, Jess." Natasha greeted the girl, tapping her shoulder and smiling widely.

"Oh, um, hi Natasha." Jess responded, not bothering to hide her confusion.

"I really like your dress," Natasha remarked, gesturing towards Jess' very intricately decorated dress, "Where did you get it?"

"Oh, thank you. I actually got it at this really cute bridal shop in the city. It cost next to nothing." Jess replied, smiling down at her dress.

"Really? You'll have to show me where it is sometime. We should go shopping." Natasha persisted, leaning a bit closer to the girl.

"Yeah, definitely. Um, I should go. I left my date all by himself and I'm sure that he's about to stab himself with his salad fork." Jess said, smiling at Natasha before backing away towards the other end of the room.

Natasha's eyes narrowed. She nodded at Steve before returning his attention to Jess. Jess seemed to notice this and rushed out of one of the nearby exit doors.

"Bucky, go get Clint, Sam, and Tony." Natasha barked just seconds before starting after Jess.

"I've got Thor and Loki." Steve called, dashing through the crowds towards where the demi-gods appeared to be having an argument.

Every student who was not directly involved in the grammar club and its dilemmas stared at the panicked students with curious and terrified stares. They looked around for the cause of such an alarmed reaction from Steve and Natasha, two usually unshakeable students. When there did not seem to be any identifiable source, the student body resumed their eating and dancing. It wasn't too uncommon for students to run around screaming at a school like S.H.I.E.L.D.

"What are you doing?" Peggy demanded, catching Steve's arm as he tried to run past her.

"Nat found the girl that stole Pepper's treasury money," Steve explained breathlessly, grabbing Peggy's hand and dragging her towards Thor and Loki, "I'm sorry, honey, but we've really got to move here."

Once Bucky and Steve rounded up the grammar club and their allies, they followed after Natasha, occasionally resorting to shouting at one another in order to make sure they were following the correct route. After about five minutes of running, they cornered Jess in the sparring room.

It became clear that despite being cornered, Jess was not exactly willing to go down without a fight. As the grammar club closed in on her, she began throwing whatever she could get her hands on. Steve narrowly dodged getting hit by an abandoned sneaker. Bucky bristled and took a step towards Jess.

"Whoa, Jess, why don't you calm down? You don't have to do this; throwing all of this stuff is only going to make it worse. We can all just talk it out. I'm sure you've got your own version of what happened." Steve said, taking a step towards Jess and holding up his hands in resignation.

Jess looked at Steve for a minute before shaking her head. She picked up a dumbbell and launched it towards the group of teens. Everyone managed to step out of the way, aside from Clint, who had been distracted by a praying mantis crawling across the floor. The dumbbell hit him square in the stomach.

"Unf - motherfffffff…" Clint rasped, clutching his stomach as he plopped down on the ground.

The murderous look that Natasha cast in Jess' direction was indescribable.

"Jess, we really don't want to do this." Steve tried again, taking yet another step towards Jess.

"I do." Natasha growled under her breath.

"Do you really think I'm going to let the school's after hours freak show corner me in the gym? I've seen enough movies to know how this ends. You guys had better back off." Jess stated in a shaky voice, kicking an exercise ball at the group.

The ball wound up knocking Darcy over; she had been too busy watching Clint squirm on the ground to notice the makeshift weapon flying at her. Clint tried to laugh as Darcy hit the ground with a dull 'thump,' but given the condition of his stomach, he wound up letting out one huff of air before rolling over and letting out a series of yelps.

"Nobody is permitted to hit my girlfriend with balls." Loki snarled, his voice low and deadly.

Tony's snickers cut through the otherwise silent room.

"Oh, grow up." Peggy hissed, rolling her eyes.

"Really not the time, Tony." Pepper agreed in an exasperated tone.

Loki did not seem to notice the exchange following his remark. He had immediately approached Jess, managing to stop any other objects she attempted to throw. Natasha followed at his heels, eager to get her hands on Jess - preferably around her neck.

As it turned out, Natasha was much more in control of the situation than Loki was. While he had not wrapped his hands around Jess' neck the way Natasha had certainly thought about doing, he had taken hold of her arm and turned a large majority of her body an unsettling blue-ish color.

"What the hell are you doing?" Steve demanded, attempting to pull Loki off of Jess, who was too busy shuddering and whimpering to fully understand what was happening around her.

"Dropping her internal temperature," Loki snapped back, looking thoroughly annoyed at having been interrupted.

Natasha let out a small sigh. "You should probably let go. I think you're going to kill her in a minute or two."

"I am not nearly as close to killing her as I would like to be." Loki mumbled, dropping Jess' arm with some reluctance.

"Me neither." Natasha agreed as Loki stepped back.

Natasha and Loki exchanged smirks before Loki returned to Darcy's side and Natasha hunched over Jess and tried to regulate her body temperature enough to get honest answers out of her.

"You called me your girlfriend." Darcy remarked as Loki helped her up.

Loki scowled. "Yes, well, the camera man made it painfully obvious that what we considered a friendship qualifies as a relationship. By default, that makes you my girlfriend, does it not?"

A goofy smile broke across Darcy's face. "You tried to  _protect_  your girlfriend. You care about your girlfriend! You would cry if I got hurt."

Loki glared at her. "Now is not the time for this discussion."

"Oh, look at us. Trying not to fight in public like a total couple." Darcy teased with a laugh.

"Hey, lovers, I'm real happy for you, but in case you haven't noticed; we're trying to get the girl that Loki almost froze to death into the computer lab. Mind moving out of the way?" Bucky snapped as he, Steve, and Sam essentially carried Jess towards the exit.

With one final smirk at Loki, Darcy danced out of the boys' way, allowing them to drag Jess towards the computer lab for further questioning.

* * *

"Okay, I stole the money." Jess admitted within five minutes of regaining her normal body temperature in the deserted computer lab.

"I knew it!" Tony exclaimed. Every other occupant in the room stared at the billionaire in total exasperation.

"How did you do it?" Natasha demanded, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the desk at the front of the room.

Jess squirmed in her seat a bit. "Our whole class speculated on how we'd do it for a few months now. We weren't serious, it was just for fun. You guys probably know how easy it is to break into the school's system. The kind of secrets they're just barely protecting...well, it's interesting, to say the least. I didn't think that it would ever get to this, I just got this call from my parents saying that my mom lost some serious money in the stock market and they just couldn't pay for this prom dress that I had already put on my credit card…"

"But why blame me?" Pepper demanded, clearly not nearly as offended by the fact that Jess had stolen the money as she was that Jess had put the blame on her.

"I didn't mean to blame you," Jess answered immediately, "I, um, I meant to blame him," She nodded towards Loki, "I didn't think that getting him into trouble would really be the worst thing in the world."

" _Listen you overdressed tapeworm -_ "

"Darcy." Natasha interrupted her comrade, holding up her hand and shaking her head. Darcy folded her arms and let out an annoyed huff, glowering at Jess angrily. Loki coughed in order to disguise a laugh.

"You're going to write an email to Coulson," Natasha stated, gesturing towards the computer sitting in front of Jess, "and you're going to tell him that you took the money. Once you're done the email, we're going to go talk to an administrator to confirm that the email was from you."

"What if I don't?" Jess challenged, looking up at Natasha sullenly.

"Hmm, well, let's see: you might have bruised my boyfriend's ribs, you pissed off a demi-god by knocking down his girlfriend, and then you pissed off the girlfriend who always carries around a taser. It's either confess or see if you can survive being in a room with us for longer than five minutes." Natasha replied, her eyes narrowing.

"What's Coulson's email address again?"

* * *

"So Jess really took the money?" Bruce asked in a surprised tone.

"Jess took the money." Pepper confirmed with a smile, leaning against Maria slightly as the girls curled up in one of the roomier chairs in Tony's living room.

Once the group had caught Jess and forced a confession out of her, they had lost all interest in the prom. They opted to go to Stark Towers, where they promptly relayed a narrative of their experience to Bruce and Maria.

Now that the graduation status of the grammar club was all sorted out, the gaggle of teens allowed themselves to relax a bit. Tony stood at the bar -still wearing his tuxedo - concocting all types of drinks while Rhodey tried to advise him to use just a bit less liquor in his mixed drinks. Pepper and Maria were huddled up against each other as Pepper recovered from the experience of wearing a prom dress in frigid weather. Jane and Thor were snuggled up on the couch, largely ignoring the proceedings going on around them. Darcy and Loki were sitting on the floor near the couch, staring at each other in utter confusion. Peggy and Natasha were sitting next to each other in two chairs while Steve sat in front of Peggy's chair and Clint leaned against Natasha's chair, both boys half-asleep. Sam was running around the tower somewhere, and judging from his absence, so was Bucky.

As the group grew less interested in Jess' motives to steal the school's money, the subject changed to graduation. For the first time in the two weeks that they had spent together, each teenager was realizing that there was a strong possibility that they would not see each other beyond graduation.

"There'll be a five-year reunion." Maria tried to assert hopefully.

Tony snorted from the bar. "Rogers will have gotten himself shot by then."

"And Tony'll have drunk himself into an early grave by then." Steve countered with a grin.

Peggy and Pepper exchanged exasperated looks before rolling their eyes.

"Why don't we all just agree to stay alive for the next five years? If we are, we'll all go to the reunion and there's no problem." Bruce suggested.

"What about those who don't go to S.H.I.E.L.D.? We might like a reunion, too." Peggy pointed out with a small smile.

"Well, I don't know what  _you're_  going to do, but I'm assuming that Steve and Bucky will arrive together as a married couple." Natasha teased, smirking at Steve playfully.

Steve smiled half-heartedly, but glanced in the direction of the hallway that Bucky had disappeared down. Peggy noticed.

The teenagers continued to laugh and tease each other about where they would be in the next five years. There were a few comments aimed at Steve, but the blond seemed oblivious to each of them. Every few seconds, he would glance at the hallway like he was seriously considering something. When he wasn't looking at the hallway, he was looking at Natasha with furrowed brows.

Peggy smiled to herself and ran a hand through Steve's hair in the way that she knew soothed him.

"Why don't you go talk to Bucky? You two really haven't gotten the chance to speak to one another tonight." She suggested quietly.

Steve didn't need to be told twice. He spared Peggy an appreciative smile before launching himself off of the floor and walking straight to the room that Tony had assigned to Bucky. He didn't bothering listening to what his friends said about his abrupt departure.

As Steve had guessed, Bucky was not running about the building with Sam. He was sitting on his bed and staring at the wall with a totally blank expression. Steve took a deep breath before sitting down next to him. Bucky looked up with a startled expression. Apparently he had not noticed Steve entering the room.

"Are you dating Nat?" Steve hadn't meant for the words to sound so severe, but he couldn't help it. The thought of his two best friends dating behind his back was bad enough without thinking of the other variables, like Sam and Clint, or the length of time that they had spent sneaking around.

"Are you high?" Bucky responded, his eyes squinting as he tried to gauge whether or not Steve was serious.

Steve shook his head. "I just want to know."

"Of course I'm not dating Natasha. Don't you think I would've told you if I was? I'd tell everyone. I'd get a t-shirt made. Why'd you think we were? Did she say something?" Bucky asked, his mouth twitching into an amused smile.

"No," Steve sighed, a wave of relief washing over him, "She didn't say anything. You're just acting really...different. You're running off every time she and I are together, you're having secret conversations with her...I just thought I'd check."

A strange look crossed Bucky's face, but it was quickly overtaken by a goofy grin. "You're imagining things, Rogers. You've always imagined things."

Steve wasn't entirely convinced, especially not after that look had flitted across Bucky's face. However, before he could even think of another explanation for his best friend's strange behavior, an all-too familiar sound rang through the entire building.

" ** _Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker_**!"

"Oh god." Steve and Bucky groaned in unison, hanging their heads and running their hands over their faces.

The phrase that they had just heard - which was somewhat of a battle cry for Tony and Rhodey - was the introduction to the Candy Land drinking game that Tony had concocted at some point during senior year. It was almost impossible to make it even halfway through the game without getting completely trashed. Steve had been the only one to manage the feat thus far, and Tony still insisted that he had cheated.

Steve and Bucky's confrontation was quickly forgotten as the boys returned to the main area to partake in the terrible game. Within ten minutes, Tony and Sam were hopelessly drunk. Because of this loss, they were given the candy crowns designated for the game's 'official lightweights'. Steve had been given the privilege of crowning them. Darcy tried to take pictures of the event on her phone, but she quickly became too impaired to focus her phone on the intended target. She wound up with about forty pictures of the carpet. Loki ridiculed everyone who was even mildly drunk for about an hour, but once he hit the lollipop woods he reached a level of intoxication that he had never before achieved. Natasha and Thor got into a heated argument over the parameters of the molasses swamp that no one else could really understand but seemed devastatingly important to the two. By three in the morning, Steve was the only sober teenager in Stark Towers.

Steve rolled his eyes as he surveyed the passed out teens surrounding him. He could not believe that he was among the same team that had somehow managed to wrangle graduation slips out of the school at the very last minute.

Smiling to himself, Steve turned to find a place to lay down. Tony had recovered pillows at some point during the night, but Peggy and Sam had successfully stolen the majority of them before one in the morning. Just before he gave up hope and settled for a leather couch cushion, Steve spotted an extra pillow lying underneath Bucky's hip.

Steve quickly shoved Bucky off of the pillow, too exhausted to really care about disturbing his best friend's slumber. Bucky grunted in protest and shifted a bit. He quickly realized that Steve wanted the pillow and rolled off of it with a loud sigh.

As Steve settled in between Bucky and Peggy, Bucky rolled back over to face Steve.

"Hey," He murmured in a slurred voice, "I love you, man."

Steve laughed. "I love you too, Buck."

With that, both of the boys drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Prom weekend did not seem to last very long, most likely because S.H.I.E.L.D.'s grammar club was drunk for the entirety of it (barring, of course, the ever-sober Steve Rogers). In what felt like a moment's time, the rag tag group found themselves at graduation.

Everyone had managed to figure out where they needed to be with relative ease; Steve and Natasha were sitting next to each other and plotting different snarky comments to call out when Tony walked across the stage, Loki and Thor were sitting together speculating on whether or not their father even knew that they were graduating, Bruce and Clint sat together, although Clint was still nursing bruised ribs and Bruce was distracted by the constant stream of texts that he was receiving from Maria. Everyone else had been forced to sit on their own. Tony was blowing up the group text, continually complaining about being seated next to a pregnant female student who Tony insisted looked as though she was 'about to pop any second'.

The ceremony itself went relatively smoothly, considering the crowd gathered in a cramped auditorium. Tony had called out a number of inappropriate comments during Bruce's valedictorian speech, Steve and Natasha had hollered and jeered the moment Tony received his diploma, and Darcy forgot to turn off the flash on her phone before taking a series of pictures of Professor Ronan's shoulders. Regardless, they had made it. Somehow, those awkward, volatile jackasses had actually graduated.

After the ceremony, they all gathered around in the parking lot. There were a number of graduates milling about; some were saying goodbye to fellow classmates, some were thanking their favorite professors, and some were hoping to hide from their parents and their parents' cameras. The grammar club was more or less doing the first of those options in their own special way.

"That robe is not flattering." Loki remarked, staring at Darcy dismally.

"Did you get the pictures of Professor Ronan I sent you? He was looking good." Darcy bit back with a smirk.

"Darcy, you can't really be attracted to a  _blue_  and  _alien_  professor." Jane insisted in an exasperated tone.

"Why not? That's a really racist attitude, Jane." Darcy argued.

"I'm not being racist, I'm just saying -"

" _Ahem_."

The group's attention shifted from Jane and Darcy's argument to the dean standing before them. Fury was not dressed any differently for the occasion; apparently black trenchcoats were as casual or as formal as he wanted them to be.

"Congratulations," Fury remarked, not looking nearly as happy as his tone implied, "You all have earned this more than anyone else here. After all, you did overcome some seemingly impossible obstacles."

"Yeah, we're pretty great." Tony agreed with a smirk.

Pepper elbowed him swiftly.

"Mhm," Fury agreed at length, "Well, just make sure you pack all of your things and get off of school property before celebrating. It would be a shame if you lost your candy crowns in the dorms."

With that, the dean walked away. Everyone exchanged stupid looks in his absence.

"How the hell did he know about that? Do you think he was hiding in my house? Do you think he has surveillance cameras? That's against the law, isn't it?" Tony demanded, looking around the group with a great deal of concern.

Clint shrugged. "If it's a legal issue, just get Darcy to take care of it. She's the best lawyer I've ever seen. You can do that, can't -  _wait a minute_ ," Clint paused upon seeing the look on Darcy's face, "Darcy. How does Fury know about the crowns?"

Darcy bit her lip and shrugged in a lame attempt at suggesting that she was just as clueless as the rest of the group.

"Darcy." Loki pressed, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"I might have snapchatted him on accident." Darcy confessed in a small voice.

"You snapchatted the dean of the school on  _accident_?" Natasha clarified in a disbelieving tone.

"Darcy, how is that possible?" Thor questioned dubiously.

"His name is right next to my mom's, okay?" Darcy explained defensively.

"Were you going to snapchat your  _mom_  when we were playing drunken Candy Land?" Steve asked with a laugh.

Darcy scowled. "I don't have to answer to you."

"No, I guess you don't. Not anymore, anyway. I, uh, I guess we're free." Steve replied, his eyebrows furrowing as the weight of his words registered.

Everyone else seemed to have the same problem. They looked at each other awkwardly, shuffling their feet and yawning in an attempt to avoid speaking. The past two weeks had gone by so rapidly that they had not given much thought to what would happen beyond graduation. They had gone through so much - too much to make saying goodbye easy. There was no good way to accept the impending future; a future that might not entail seeing one another on a regular basis.

It was Tony who had finally broken the silence.

"So," He had said in the most conversational tone he could muster, "Now what?"

* * *

Post-graduation, everything fell into place for the grammar club.

Steve was accepted into the military right away. He was joined by Rhodey, Sam, and the infamous Riley that Sam had talked to much about. They trained at Camp Lehigh in Virginia, where they were constantly getting barked at by Colonel Phillips; he especially hated Sam.

Jane and Bruce were both accepted into MIT. Jane decided to study astrophysics while Bruce chose nuclear physics in the hopes that he might help unfortunate test subjects who had wound up worse for the wear. Thor was living nearby; he had gotten into MIT after being put on a waitlist for the spring semester based off of his SAT score alone. Once Jane had explained the rules and conditions of the test, he had scored a 2380 - ten points higher than Loki.

Pepper got into Yale just like she had always dreamed and had received a generous scholarship from Stark Industries. Tony - who denied having anything to do with the scholarship - also received an acceptance letter from Yale. He immediately purchased an overpriced house and designated an entire room for Pepper, as well as a lab to play in when school wasn't nearly entertaining enough. He left Obe in charge of the company while he was gone.

Darcy got into NYU and immediately insisted that Loki attend the school with her. Loki had protested but wound up enrolling, claiming his reason for attending the same school was solely because he enjoyed living in the city. Darcy had also demanded that they skip the freshman dorm experience and buy a crappy off-campus apartment. They asked Maria - who had become an administrator at S.H.I.E.L.D. - to occupy one of the four bedrooms in their apartment. The fourth roommate was a random applicant. That applicant just happened to be Bucky Barnes. Loki detested living with Bucky. Bucky hated living with Loki's ten cats.

At the conclusion of graduation, Natasha had decided that she wanted a few more years before becoming a world-class spy. Unwilling to work with anyone else, Clint had followed Natasha to Princeton, where they were able to hack into the system and slip their names on the enrollment list. Natasha studied computer science and lived in a tiny dorm room with Peggy. Steve would beg Colonel Phillips for leave in order to visit his two favorite girls once every few months. Clint studied exercise science and lived with Peter Quill, who had never forgiven Natasha for assaulting him over pumpkin bread.

All in all, everyone was happy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be a bonus chapter after this one, I swear!


	16. Chapter 16

**Bonus Chapter!**

"So, how's the army? No calculus, I hope." Tony commented with a small smirk aimed at the blond on the other end of the computer screen.

Pepper swatted Tony and returned to her seat in front of the computer. "Hush, Tony. I'm trying to interview Steve for a paper."

Pepper had meant to video chat Steve Rogers in the hope of using him as a source in her latest political science paper. Unfortunately, once Tony had realized who Pepper was speaking to he had joined in and essentially dominated the conversation.

"Oh, is Tony there? Ask him about that care package that he supposedly sent last week." Rhodey remarked, appearing behind Steve and grinning at Tony.

"Uh, you know what, hang on. I should add Bruce to the conversation. We can ask if he got his," The billionaire paused to press a few buttons on his keyboard, "Bruce, buddy! How's MIT?"

"Hey, Tony. Oh, hey, Steve. How are you? Rhodey told me that you've been getting a lot of promotions lately." Bruce said as soon as he answered the video chat, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and smiling.

"I think you misunderstood what I was saying - I said that we all hated him." Rhodey teased, nudging Steve. Steve chuckled and punched Rhodey's shoulder in response.

"Ah, stop complaining. You've gotten promoted, too." Steve reminded Rhodey.

"No one's been promoted as quickly as Cap. At this rate, he's going to be running the whole goddamn country." Sam called from his bed a few feet away.

"From football captain to Captain America...and to think you almost failed high school." Tony laughed.

"Captain America...I like it." Steve decided with a grin.

Bruce looked mildly distracted before speaking up. "Hey, uh, do you guys mind if I add Maria to the chat? She's trying to call me."

"Yes, please! I feel like I haven't talked to Maria in years!" Pepper immediately chimed in.

"If you must." Tony sighed.

"Hey, get her to put Darcy on, too!" Sam shouted.

Within a matter of seconds, Maria's face was part of the chat. "Hi Bruce! Oh, Pepper, hi! And Steve! Wow, it's like a high school reunion. How are you guys doing?" The brunette squealed, thrilled to see her friends.

"We're all great; Tony is actually going to class these days, Steve is becoming Captain America, and Sam still isn't over Darcy." Pepper responded with a small laugh.

"Captain America? That sounds like one of the superheros that Coulson is always obsessing over. When did -"

"Did I hear somebody say my name?" Darcy interrupted, appearing next to Maria and staring at the screen - in Steve's direction in particular - with a smirk.

"Darcy!" Sam jumped out of bed and leaned over Steve's shoulder in order to smile at the screen widely.

Everyone else rolled their eyes in unison.

"How are you and Loki? Still madly in love? Can't keep your hands off of each other?" Tony demanded, his mouth twitching into a smile at the familiar joke.

Darcy's nose wrinkled instinctively. "Ew."

"Was I being called?" Loki inquired, approaching Maria's computer while clutching an apple. He had evidently heard his name while on a snack run.

"Tony thinks that you can't keep your hands off of me. Says we're madly in love." Darcy replied, smiling up at Loki as though they shared a secret joke.

Loki's upper lip curled in disgust. "Ew."

"Right?" Darcy agreed, nodding emphatically.

"Are you two messing with me or did you really break up? Alright, be honest, Hill. Do those two…? I mean, do all of the bedrooms in your apartment get used or is Darcy's room pretty empty while Loki's is a bit more full?" Tony persevered.

"Did I hear Darcy's name? Are you…?" Jane wandered into view on Bruce's camera, "Bruce, you jerk! Thor and I were just across the lab. You could have told us that you were video chatting everyone. Thor, come say hi to your brother."

"Oh, yeah, you should talk to your brother, Loki. You can tell him all about your first experience at a college party." Darcy laughed, nudging Loki's shoulder.

"Did he get hammered? Please tell me you recorded it." Tony laughed.

Steve joined in with his laughter. "You guys are such lightweights. I feel like someone is always telling me about one of you guys getting drunk. Didn't Barton break into a pet store after getting wrecked two weeks ago?"

"Yeah. I had to go to New Jersey to get him out of those trespassing charges," Darcy replied with an amused smirk, "Anyway, you can't act all high and mighty. I don't think I've heard anyone say you've even been to a party yet. You can't criticize our war stories until you've got stories of your own."

"War stories?" Thor finally crossed the lab, having completed the task that Jane had assigned to him prior to the video chat.

"Drinking stories." Bruce clarified, turning around to smile at his second lab partner.

A grin slid across Thor's face immediately. "Were you discussing the pictures that Darcy distributed last night?"

"Pictures?" Loki echoed irritably.

"I might have done some drunk snapchatting. You might not love me after you see the pictures." Darcy confessed sheepishly.

"Why didn't you snapchat me? I wanted to see Gandalf drunk off of his ass. Did he turn anyone into a cat? Blow anything up? Damn it, Darcy. I am offended that you didn't send me anything." Tony complained, shaking his head.

"It was her snapchat story." Thor remarked, rolling his eyes at his friend's over dramatic display.

There were a bunch of murmurs and background noise as everyone immediately pulled out their phones to examine the pictures that Thor had mentioned. Once they had seen the pictures, everyone immediately burst out laughing.

"What were you thinking? How did that even happen? Does anybody else see the chicken in his coat?" Maria asked through fits of laughter.

"Oh, god, I hadn't even thought about looking at the coat; I was too distracted by the sunglasses made out of Christmas lights. Please tell me somebody is taking screenshots of these pictures." Bruce laughed, removing his glasses and wiping away a tear of laughter.

"I'm adding Nat to the conversation. She's got to hear about these." Steve chuckled, looking away from the computer screen long enough to make a few keystrokes.

"Steve, no!" Loki growled loudly, not wanting any more of his high school comrades to watch the string of pictures while in his presence.

"Steve? What is he doing? Is Steve okay? Is he doing something stupid? Please tell me that he didn't start a war." Bucky appeared behind Maria in half a second, wearing only a towel that he was half-hazardly securing around his waist with one hand.

"No. For the millionth time, Steve is safe. He's just - oh, hi Natasha." Darcy said, rolling her eyes at Bucky before smiling awkwardly at the newest addition to the group chat.

Natasha quirked an eyebrow. "Steve, is there any reason that you decided to include me in a chat where Bucky is naked?"

"I'm not naked, I've got a towel!" Without thinking, Bucky raised both of his hands in order to gesture towards the towel, accidentally letting it slip off of his hips in the process.

"Aw, Buck." Steve laughed, pretending to place his hand over his screen while the rest of their friends laughed, squealed, and wolf-whistled.

"What's all the noise? Uh, Nat?" Clint questioned as he walked up behind Natasha to get a better view of her computer screen, "Why are you video chatting naked Bucky?"

"Oh, that must mean Steve is involved, too." Peggy sighed from across the room, also walking up behind Natasha to peer over her shoulder at the screen.

"I didn't know that Bucky would be naked," Steve protested with an amused grin, "I was actually calling to tell you about something completely unrelated to naked Bucky. Did you see Darcy's snapchat story from last night?"

"I'm leaving." Loki grumbled.

"No you're not." Darcy countered, grabbing his arm and yanking him a bit closer to the computer.

"Looking right now," Natasha responded, pulling out her cell phone, "This isn't going to gross me out, is it?"

"That all depends on how you feel about chickens." Thor responded with a slight smirk.

"Now I've got to look." Clint sighed, also pulling out his cell phone.

Peggy examined her own phone, knowing that if she did not view the story alongside of her friends, she would be completely left out of the conversation for at least a few minutes.

Within seconds, the trio had dissolved into laughter.

"Was that your real hand?" Clint demanded, clutching his stomach as bursts of laughter emerged unbidden.

Loki rolled his eyes. "I am exceptionally talented at illusions. Now, I think that it is high time that this conversation end. I have two hours until my next class. I am going to spend my time doing something far more productive than speaking to all of you. I am going to take a nap." With that, the demi-god stomped off, followed by a trail of cats.

"Oh, a nap does sound really good. You know what? To hell with it. I'm going to skip my two o'clock class and take a nap, too. Goodnight, guys!" Darcy remarked, waving at the computer screen in an overly dramatic gesture before skipping offscreen.

"It's two o'clock? Shoot. I have to hand my paper in by five and I've barely started it. I guess I should probably get started on that. Steve, can I just text you the rest of the questions? I don't think we'll make it through the interview while Tony's in the room." Pepper said with a slight smile, glancing down at her watch as she spoke.

"Yeah, sure - no problem. I actually get to pass on PT today, anyway. It's one of the perks of my newest promotion. I get to choose my own PT schedule along with my own workout routine. Don't you two have to go, though?" Steve asked, turning around to look at Sam and Rhodey.

Sam offered Steve a view of both of his middle fingers in response. Steve rolled his eyes and returned the gesture as Sam and Rhodey exited the room.

"Ugh, if it's really two then I need to get going, too. Fury wanted me to get back from my lunch break at one forty-five," Maria sighed dismally, "Bucky, do you want me to leave my computer on until you're done talking to Steve?"

Bucky shook his head, sending droplets of water onto Maria's computer's camera. "Nah, I've got to go get dressed. My mom is coming down for parents' weekend. She'd kill me if I didn't show up for lunch because I was talking to Steve. Again. Just...try not to kill yourself, alright, man?" Bucky replied, sparing Steve a slightly concerned smile.

Steve rolled his eyes and nodded his head. "You got it, Buck. I'll let someone else take a crack at it first."

"You're a punk, Rogers." Bucky muttered, his mouth curving into a smile.

"Alright, I really have to go. Bye guys!" Maria said, waving to her computer monitor before exiting the chat.

"Since we're all going, I guess I had better say goodbye as well. I'm leaving for my leadership retreat in an hour and I've still got quite a bit of things to pack." Peggy remarked, looking over Natasha's monitor at the pile of clothes accumulating on her bed and sighing.

"Oh, yeah, right, the leadership conference. Yeah, you probably should start packing for that. I'm sure Nat is practically pushing you out the door." Steve teased with a laugh.

Peggy rolled her eyes. "Not when I still have a number of stories to tell about you."

"Didn't you say you had to pack? I'll talk to you after you're done for the day." Steve responded quickly, clearly trying to get Peggy away from the monitor before she could reveal any embarrassing stories that she might have been keeping to herself.

Peggy laughed. "Why don't I call you first? You always call at the worst time possible."

"Fine." Steve allowed, ignoring the wide smirk creeping up on Tony's face.

"Good," Peggy smiled, "Now I really had better pack all of this stuff. Goodbye, everyone."

"Bye, Peggy." Everyone else muttered absently.

"Hey Tony, what's that?" Bruce questioned, distracting the group from Peggy's departure.

Tony looked behind him at the object of Bruce's curiosity. It appeared to be some red and yellow hunk of metal. The billionaire turned around and smiled at the computer monitor widely. It was clear that he was thrilled to be given an excuse to talk about the hunk of metal.

"That's actually an excellent question, my dear Banner," Tony responded with his usual air of arrogance, "I'm in the middle of building the greatest-"

A loud beeping sound interrupted his explanation. Everyone turned around to see if the beeping sound was occurring on their end of the chat. Steve ventured towards his window but did not see any signs of either an emergency or a drill. Tony checked all of the security systems that he had installed in the house and was also assured that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Bruce glanced over his monitor at Jane's lab station and inhaled sharply.

"Uh, Jane," He started, drawing Jane and Thor's attention immediately, "Is that test tube supposed to be melting?"

"No!" Jane whined, rushing offscreen in order to deal with whatever sort of chemical reaction was occurring on the other side of the lab. Thor simply observed with a small smile. It was possible that he had known the inevitable result of Jane's experiment before she had even put her lab coat on.

The number of people involved in the chat had now narrowed down considerably. In fact, the only participants left in the video chat were: Steve, Bruce, Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Thor.

Tony cleared his throat loudly. "So as I was saying before I was interrupted, I'm in the middle of building the greatest machine known to man. You all know the machine I made Pepper for Christmas, right?"

Steve snorted and nodded. Bruce shrugged while looking mildly concerned. Thor nodded while looking extremely concerned. Natasha's eyes narrowed. Clint appeared to be distracted by Pizza.

"Well, imagine a machine that I can actually step inside. It's cool as shit. There's lasers and just this massive defense system. I'm even working on getting it to fly. Well, you all should know a little bit about that. You sort of saw Steve and I test out the prototype I'd been working on during the school year. Now I can kick ass and take names while you, Sam, and Rhodey are like my backup dancers." Tony explained with a wide smile.

Steve snorted again. "Backup dancers? If I pulled you out of the suit, you'd be no more equipped to fight than Bruce. No offense, of course, Bruce."

"None taken." Bruce responded hastily, smiling good-naturedly.

Tony, on the other hand, was not smiling. "If you pulled me out of the suit, I'd still be the guy who was able to  _make_  the suit. I didn't just buy this thing at Radio Shack, I built it with my bare hands. I could build it again if I had to. C'mon, give me props. I could be a crime-fighting machine."

"A metal suit used for crime fighting. I'll bet Pepper loves having that around the house." Natasha stated sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"She's...well, anyway, she owes me after I got to the bottom of her little treasury scandal." Tony answered, fidgeting in his seat a bit.

" _You_  got to the bottom of it?" Natasha demanded incredulously.

"What? You think you did everything?" Tony inquired with raised eyebrows, "I did a lot of the work."

"I did a solid 95% of the work. You just sat around and looked up Rhodey's Netflix history." Natasha bit back.

"What about me? I helped you hack into the mainframe from the dorms." Clint objected, suddenly looking up from where he had been playing with Pizza the dog.

"I'm not trying to pile on here, but I did help chase her down." Steve added.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Oh my god. I actually don't know what to say. Your stupidity has rendered me speechless."

"So did Jess, if you don't remember. I had to help her write out an email to Coulson. Another percentage goes to Stark!" Tony chimed in.

"I did not do much regarding Pepper's particular dilemma. I believe that I was much too worn after helping Jane with her volunteer hours." Thor confessed with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, well, at least you were there, bud. I don't think I was a whole lot of help sitting around Stark Towers while you guys talked to Jess." Bruce remarked with a laugh.

"You were backup. You were important, Bruce." Tony asserted.

"Are you kidding me?" Natasha complained. "You're going to give  _Bruce_  credit, but you're going to pretend that I didn't do a majority of the work?"

The group bickered over who was destined to receive the majority of the credit for that particular part of their graduation scheme for about another ten minutes. The premise was essentially the same; Tony refused to admit that Natasha had done most of the work while Natasha threatened to rip every limb from Tony's body. Eventually, Tony admitted that he had just been teasing her in an effort to see just how angry he could make her. He had never had the courage to tease her when they attended the same school. Surprisingly enough, the conversation ended in laughter, although Natasha still had that murderous look in her eyes. She muttered something about wishing that Tony had not survived the two weeks before graduation. That just made Tony laugh harder.

"I still can't believe that  _all of us_  made it through those last two weeks. I thought we'd all either end up dead or stuck at S.H.I.E.L.D. for another year. We really saved each other's asses." Steve chuckled as the laughter from the debate began to die down.

"That's what people like us do, Rogers. We save things." Tony proclaimed, gesturing back at the red and yellow heap of metal that was apparently the greatest machine known to mankind, "Saving each other was just the first step."

"And what's the last step?" Bruce questioned in amusement.

Tony smiled widely. "Saving the world."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that does it for this story! I'm thinking about writing a sequel, but I'm still not entirely sure what a sequel would entail. So, if you have any suggestions for plot points/potential ships/whatever, let me know. Any input would be much appreciated!


	17. The Graduates: Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Long time, no publish, eh? Well, as you might have guessed from the promising note at the end of the last chapter, I was on the prowl for a decent plot for a sequel. And, as it seems, I've sort of found a suitable enough one. So, here's the first chapter of the sequel - The Graduates. From this point forward, I'll be publishing all new chapters under that title. I just wanted to make sure anyone who wanted to know knew about the sequel. Happy reading~  
> *oh, and by the way. As a warning to anyone who might need to know: the sequel is hella Stucky. If you don't ship it, you might want to avoid it! ;D

“We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes; two young men who gave their lives in service of their country.”

The graduates of S.H.I.E.L.D. High all bowed their heads. No one wanted to look up at the two coffins standing before them. They were too real. It was too difficult to accept that the coffins really belonged to a deceased Steve and a deceased Bucky.

It was five years after they had all graduated. Since that time, Steve, Bucky, Sam, Peggy (though no one really knew about Peggy's involvement - Fury wanted her as undercover as possible), Natasha, Clint, and Maria had all joined S.H.I.E.L.D., which turned out to be an intelligence agency as well as a high school. Steve and Bucky had been running a covert operation in Russia for S.H.I.E.L.D. when they had met their untimely demise. They had missed their extraction point and had not been heard from since. After a week and a half, Nick Fury had no choice but to declare them dead. Natasha had been the one forced to break the news to everyone; Peggy, Tony, and worst of all: Mrs. Barnes.

Mrs. Barnes had been surprisingly put-together throughout the whole experience. She had planned the funeral with the help of Peggy, she had insisted that every graduate coming to the funeral from out of town stay with her for the weekend, and she had even hosted Loki’s every-growing herd of cats. Even when she was first told that Steve had perished alongside of Bucky, Mrs. Barnes had looked at Natasha with sad, tired eyes and said, “Well, of course he did. Those boys did everything together.” There had been no crying, no resentment; just quiet acceptance.

Peggy had taken the news surprisingly well, too. Unlike Mrs. Barnes, she had shed a sizeable amount of tears, but she had not gone through the stage of denial that others had. Instead, she had just hugged Natasha and asked her how _she_ was holding up. Natasha could not believe it.

Natasha did not take the news nearly as well as Mrs. Barnes and Peggy had. When Fury had broken the news to her, she was angry. She broke his desk, shattered his windows, and blamed him for sending Steve to his death. When Fury asked her to tell everybody that Steve had died, she had fractured his wrist and nearly ripped out his good eye. Once Fury left to get his wrist and eye looked at, she had curled up under his desk and cried for about six hours. Clint had found her and brought her home sometime around three in the morning. It had taken her an additional 28 hours to compose herself just enough to break the news to everyone.

Even now, days after hearing the news, Natasha was struggling to accept that she had lost her one and only best friend. Whether she accepted it or not, though, the coffin designated to Steve was right there in front of her. It was reflecting the sunlight directly in her face while the horrible minister spoke, like Steve was actually trying to catch her attention at a time like this. He would have, too. Natasha smiled at the thought.

Steve would have absolutely _hated_ this funeral. It was so impersonal, so boring. There were no stories about the stupid things that he and Bucky had done in their lifetime, nothing about his accomplishments, no self-righteous remarks...he would have been having a fit.

Natasha sighed as the funeral finally dragged to an end. She just had to survive the reception and then she would be left to grieve on her own; assuming that Clint wouldn’t try to convince her to go for dinner afterwards, of course.

* * *

Natasha had clearly been very impacted by the news of her best friend’s death, Clint knew that. He had found her in a fetal position under Nick Fury’s desk hours after she had heard the news. Even after he had gotten her out from under the desk, she had refused to speak for just a little longer than a day. When she finally spoke, she spoke of nothing other than Steve.

Clint knew better than to try to comfort her. She didn’t need his sympathy, his pity, or his awkward attempts at consolation. She just needed time and a few carefully selected hours of solitude. Maybe he would try to take her out to dinner after the reception.

* * *

As everyone began to shuffle back to the church for the reception, Tony remained standing directly in front of Steve’s grave. He glared at the headstone as though it had personally wronged him. In a way, he supposed, it had. It made the claim that Steve was dead.

“Tony, we’re going to the reception.” Pepper reminded him in a light voice.

Tony didn’t turn around. “I’ll meet you guys there.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Pepper asked.

“Nah, that’s alright. I, uh, I just need a minute.” Tony replied with an entirely forced smile.

Pepper spared him a sympathetic smile before joining Natasha and Peggy just a few feet ahead. Tony watched her go before letting out a heavy sigh and turning to the two shiny headstones standing before him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head.

“This wasn’t how our five year reunion was supposed to go, you jackass.” He murmured as he glared at Steve’s headstone, “You were supposed to be alive for it. Jesus, this is just like you. You couldn’t just call us up and ask to hang out like a normal guy. You had to get yourself killed and make us all sit through that Christ awful funeral. And you had to take Bucky with you. It was just so that we couldn’t ask if we should call him your widow, I know it was. This is just...it’s so like you, Rogers.” Tony scowled and blinked rapidly in an effort to hold back the tears threatening to pour from his eyes.

It took Tony a minute or two to realize that there would be no response. He let out a huff of disbelief and shook his head. After glaring at Steve’s grave for another few seconds, he squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head.

“You know I’ve lost people,” He mumbled, his voice quivering a bit, “You know that I have, Rogers. Why’d you have to go and pull a dick move like this? This was your final revenge for all the shit I gave you about calculus, wasn’t it? Well played, well played. Just...uh...well, now that you’ve won...could you just come back? C’mon, Steve. You can even bring your boyfriend with you. I won’t even ask how it’s scientifically possible. I’ll just...well...I’ll tell you that you’re an asshole for dying in the first place, but I’ll try to be nicer after that. Maybe. I don’t know. Just see if you can manage that, Rogers, alright?”

Once again, there was no response. Tony wasn’t looking for one anymore. He just nodded in the grave’s direction and trudged up towards the church.

* * *

“I’m going to kill you if we ever make it through this.” Bucky growled as he and Steve tromped through the harsh Russian terrain that they were now stranded in. Steve sighed heavily and hung his head. He knew that he should have told Bucky to stay at home for this particular mission.

“Look, it’s been a little over a week. S.H.I.E.L.D. is probably looking for us. We just have to get into town. Once we get there, we can call Fury and figure out some kind of alternate extraction plan.” Steve tried to reason optimistically. Bucky snorted loudly and shook his head.

“You’re smarter than that, Rogers. If we walk into the town now, we’ll be recognized and executed in about ten minutes tops. We’re stuck out here like Napoleon’s jackass army in the fucking winter.”

“I’m glad you’re not too cold to remember what you learned in history class.”

Bucky glared at Steve. Steve let out a small laugh. Hearing Steve’s laugh, Bucky’s mouth curved into a smile on its own accord. Before long, the boys had dissolved into laughter despite the grave situation they found themselves in.

Steve was the first to sober up a bit. He watched Bucky with a grim smile, wondering just how he was going to get them out of Russia. He wasn’t particularly worried about himself; he just had to save Bucky. Bucky couldn’t suffer for Steve’s mistakes.

“What if we stole a one-person plane? They’re not as heavily guarded as the bigger planes and the Russians are less likely to shoot it down.” Steve suggested.

Bucky looked at Steve with an amused smile. “I know you aren’t great at math, but, but there’s more than one of us. Unless we snuggle real close, it’s going to be just you or m -- no.” Bucky had suddenly realized what Steve’s plan entailed and seemed furious about it. “Not an option.”

“Bucky,” Steve tried to ration.

“No, Steve.” Bucky snapped.

“We can’t both make it and I’m not going to let you die out here, Buck. You’ve got people to go home to; you’ve got your mom, you’ve got Beast, and you’ve got that new girl you’ve been seeing, ah, Carol. Just let me do this. You can take the plane and I’ll hold the crew off.”

“You dipshit,” Bucky snarled, “How has it never occurred to you that maybe the only person I've ever wanted to go home to is standing next to me in the middle of fucking Siberia?”

“But Buck,”

“No. We’re staying together.”

Steve sighed, “If you don’t leave now, we’re both going to die out here. We don’t have any food or water.”

“Great. We’ll die together.”

Steve glared at Bucky but decided against protesting. From the look on Bucky’s face, it was clear that arguing would not do him a bit of good.

* * *

“I can’t remember the last time that I was this hungry.” Bucky complained just a day later.

He and Steve were propped up against a tree in the middle of the woods, both of the men clutching at their stomachs and groaning every time their stomachs growled. They had now gone roughly five days without any food. They had taken to eating the snow every once in a while, but that only satisfied their thirst. It was clear that they would not find food in the area, and without the food they needed, they would die.

“We’re not going to make it much longer. Buck, are you sure that…?”

“For the last time, I am not going to eat you, Steve.”

“Just offering.”

Bucky snorted. “You’re an idiot. Look at you, you look like shit. You’d probably taste like dirt and hair.”

He was joking, of course. Steve could never look like shit; it was one of the more unfortunate things about his best friend. He always looked unfairly handsome, even when they were refugees hiding in the middle of a forest in Russia. The stubble that he didn’t have the resources to shave made him look like a rugged mountain man and the hard look in his eye just added to the entire appearance. Bucky bit his tongue and forced himself to focus on the dismal landscape surrounding them.

“Yeah, well, you look great,” Steve mumbled from beside him, “Actually, Bucky, if we’re really going to die out here, there’s something I should tell you.”

Bucky’s ears pricked up. He knew better than to hope for anything too serious; Steve was probably just going to come up with yet another stupid plan that would result in Bucky’s safe escape and Steve’s inevitable death. Either that, or he was going to say something about Peggy that would make Bucky want to die much sooner.

It should go on record that Bucky had never meant to harbor these kind of feelings for Steve. In fact, he had tried very hard not to have any type of feelings for Steve. He had tried so hard not to love him.

He had tried not to love Steve when he first met him; the idiot had licked a frozen pole on a dare and had been stuck to said pole until Bucky brought him a cup of hot water and an extra coat.

He had tried not to love Steve when they went to their fifth grade dance together; Steve had stared at a petite redhead the entire time and Bucky had been out of his mind with jealousy.

He had tried not to love Steve when they reached middle school and girls began to take an interest in the both of them; Bucky had gone on countless dates in an attempt to find a more suitable partner while Steve remained infuriatingly single.

He had tried not to love Steve when Steve’s parents died within five months of each other; Steve had spent weeks at his house and had refused to sleep alone. Bucky was forced to suffer through weeks of lying next to Steve. He spent those weeks wishing that he could gather the sobbing 13 year-old up in his arms and protect him from the world’s cruelty.

He had tried not to love Steve when Steve confessed that he was going to apply to S.H.I.E.L.D. High; Bucky had known that Steve would get accepted and could not bear the thought of being separated from his best friend for even an hour’s time.

He had tried not to love Steve when Steve would tag along on his dates; sometimes Bucky would encourage his date to bring a friend. He liked when the girls would get so caught up in their own conversations that they forgot all about him and Steve. When the girls left them alone, it almost felt like he and Steve were on their own sort of date.

He had tried not to love Steve when Steve left for S.H.I.E.L.D. High; the stupid blond had hugged him real tight and reminded him to call often. As if Bucky could resist the temptation of talking to Steve at every available moment.

He had tried not to love Steve when he saw the way Steve looked at Peggy Carter; God, he had wished that Steve would look at him that way.

He had tried not to love Steve when Steve didn’t love him; every single agonizing second of their friendship.

“B-Bucky?” Bucky couldn’t tell if Steve’s voice was trembling from nerves or the biting cold. He offered Steve his gloves just in case. Steve shook his head and shoved the gloves back into Bucky’s hands.

“I, uh, well, I guess I might as well just say it. I didn’t just ask you to come here because I didn’t think that I could shut down that factory by myself. I’ve done missions like this all by myself for years. I was…” Steve sighed heavily, “I was selfish. I just, I thought about being out here in the middle of nowhere for a few days, maybe a few weeks…”

“Maybe forever,” Bucky interjected with an almost smile.

Steve’s mouth twitched slightly.

“Maybe forever…” He echoed in a borderline amused tone, “And all of the sudden it just seemed so awful; being alone, I mean. I just...I didn’t want to leave you, Buck. I know it’s stupid and I know you’ve got Carol back home, but I -”

Steve didn’t get to finish his absurdly lengthy speech. He was too busy processing the fact that Bucky’s lips were now on his lips and Bucky’s tongue was now prodding at his tongue. Steve’s eyes widened in surprise but he didn’t pull away. On the contrary, he tried to pull Bucky closer despite his gloves that didn’t seem to receive any kind of traction and both of their restrictively puffy winter coats.

The kiss was nothing like Bucky had dreamt it would be. It wasn’t soft or sweet or gentle. It was desperate and furious and god, it was intoxicating. Bucky didn’t know whether or not starvation was causing him to hallucinate and frankly, he didn’t care. As far as he knew, he was kissing Steve Rogers and it was possibly the greatest moment of his entire existence. Fuck the cold and the hunger; they hardly mattered when Steve was biting at his bottom lip and trying to pull him closer still.

When Bucky’s tongue ventured just a bit too far, Steve broke away with a cough and a few gasps for air. Unable to look into his best friend’s wide eyes quite yet, Bucky kissed along Steve’s jaw line.

“I love you,” He murmured as he moved down to Steve’s neck, “Fuck, I just…”

Steve shuddered; the combination of the saliva left down his jaw and neck from Bucky’s mouth and the biting Russian wind was a new and not altogether unwelcome feeling.

“Love you, yeah, it’s...I...when you got back from school, it was like…I knew...and...ugh...” Steve rambled to himself, the words hardly registering with Bucky. The only words that seemed to be worth a damn were “Love” and “you”; exclusively in that order. Bucky’s heart felt heavy with complete adoration while his brain felt feather light with relief. Steve loved him back. He actually loved him back.

“Hm,” Bucky muttered against Steve’s neck, “I knew when you got your tongue frozen to that stupid pole.”

“But that was ages ago,” Steve remarked in a confused voice, “Weren’t we only - ah!” His question evolved into a surprised exclamation as Bucky’s teeth sank into his neck.

“Five, yeah,” Bucky hummed, releasing Steve’s skin from his teeth and kissing gently at the newly forming mark, “Ma said that you might have to get your tongue removed if you got frostbite. You have no idea how glad I am that you didn’t.”

“Hm, I can tell,” Steve chuckled good-naturedly. He yelped when Bucky’s teeth began biting at his skin again, “You sure that you’re not trying to eat me?”

“I’m sure,” Bucky laughed, finally removing himself from Steve’s neck and sitting up a bit, “Although I should kill you for getting us stuck in this situation because you didn’t have the balls to tell me how you felt while we were safe in New York.”

Steve shrugged with a sheepish smile. “There were a lot of other factors…”

“Like Peggy?”

“And Carol.”

“Well, maybe they can have each other.”

Steve cast a dubious look in Bucky’s direction. Bucky’s smile faltered a bit.

“Would you have told me if we weren’t gonna die?”

Steve ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Probably not.”

“Coward.”

“You could have told me.” Steve reminded Bucky. Bucky snorted and shook his head.

“You would’ve shot me down.”

“What? No. Why would I?”

“Well for starters, you’ve been in love with either Nat or Peg for the past nine years. Believe me, I’ve counted. Secondly, even if you weren’t drooling over two gorgeous girls, you were a self-righteous prick. You would’ve told me that you didn’t want to ruin our friendship or that you loved me too much to lose me.”

“‘Self-righteous prick’? When did I act self-righteous?”

“You still do, Rogers.”

“Go to hell.”

“I’ll see you there in a few days.” Bucky reminded Steve with a small smile.

Steve laughed and rolled his eyes. As he did so, something caught his attention. An adorable white rabbit was hopping through the seemingly deserted forest. Steve watched it, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Look, a rabbit! It’s been ages since I’ve seen an animal; it kind of reminds me of the one that Darcy and Loki adopted a few years ago.”

“Steve,” Bucky’s voice had grown low and deadly, “hand me that rock.”

“Why?” Steve questioned suspiciously.

“The rock, Steve.” Bucky insisted.

With some hesitation, Steve pushed the big rock sitting next to him in Bucky’s direction. A few minutes later, the two men were standing over the body of a dead and no longer very white rabbit. Steve looked at Bucky sadly.

“It was a really cute rabbit.” The blond sulked.

“I know,” Bucky agreed as he ducked down to dress the rabbit as best he could given their circumstance, “but it was either kill it or starve.” He noticed the look on Steve’s face. “You don’t love me anymore, do you?”

Steve rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. “Buck, I’ve watched you throw up in my mailbox after eating too much pizza. I’m used to loving you in spite of unsettling situations.”

“You loved me even back then?” Bucky asked with a small smile.

Steve shrugged. “I don’t really know. It’s hard to tell when it started. All I know is that I love you now.”

“That’s all I need to know,” Bucky declared.

 


End file.
